#Multi-channel Approach

[alpesamedia]

Choosing The Right Marketing Mix: Digital & Traditional Strategy

In today’s fast-paced digital age, businesses must choose between traditional marketing methods and digital strategies. Each approach has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, making the decision-making process more complex than ever before. In this blog, we’ll delve into the intricacies of traditional marketing versus digital marketing, helping you understand which strategy might be the best fit for your business.

Traditional marketing relies on methods that have been around for a long time and are widely recognized and trusted. Imagine flipping through a magazine and seeing eye-catching ads, or driving down the highway and noticing a huge billboard that grabs your attention. These offline strategies have stood the test of time because they feel real and dependable. They give people something tangible to see and experience, which goes a long way in building trust and making a lasting impression.

In the ever-changing world we live in, digital marketing has become a major force. It revolves around using algorithms and data to reach people online. Businesses leverage social media, optimize their websites to appear in search results, and run targeted ads to engage specific audiences. Digital marketing offers precision and speed, allowing businesses to track the performance of their campaigns in real-time. This dynamic approach enables companies to adapt quickly and effectively to market trends and consumer behaviors.

The best way to market a business today is to use both traditional and digital methods together. Digital marketing reaches lots of people and shows clear results. By combining both approaches, companies can create strong plans that work everywhere and easily adapt to changes. This mix helps reach more people and stay effective in a fast-changing world.

Digital Marketing:​

Digital marketing is crucial for businesses because it helps them connect with customers online. Through tools like social media marketing & SEO companies can reach people where they spend a lot of time: on the Internet. Digital marketing lets companies advertise specific targeted audiences, track how well their ads are doing, and engage with customers directly. It’s an essential way for businesses to stay competitive and grow in today’s digital world. With digital marketing, companies can choose exactly who they want to talk to. Now everyone is active in the internet online world so we can promote our products and services digitally.

Also, digital marketing enables businesses to leverage various content formats such as blogs, videos, infographics, and podcasts to engage with their audience in more interactive and compelling ways. This diverse range of content allows companies to cater to different preferences and consumption habits, ensuring that their message resonates with a broader audience.

The Timeless Approach of Digital Marketing

Precision Targeting: Digital marketing excels in its ability to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors with precision. Platforms like social media and Google Ads enable businesses to tailor their messages to highly segmented audiences, maximizing the efficiency of their marketing efforts.

Measurable Results: Using digital promotion for products and services can bring excellent outcomes. With digital marketing, marketers can keep an eye on important numbers in real time. This helps them quickly adjust and improve campaigns for better results. Digital platforms are flexible, allowing businesses to adapt fast to market changes and what customers prefer. By using digital marketing’s flexibility and responsiveness, companies can keep up with trends and make their marketing efforts better over time, leading to growth and success.

Interactivity and Engagement: Digital platforms have transformed marketing, enabling direct communication between brands and consumers. SEO enhances online visibility through optimized content and interactive elements like polls and quizzes. Social media engages with live streams and Q&A sessions, Google Ads targets traffic with interactive formats and remarketing. Integrating SEO, social media, and Google Ads amplifies their impact, creating meaningful interactions and driving brand growth.

Global Reach: In the world of marketing, which is often limited to specific regions, digital marketing has the potential to reach an international audience. Through online platforms and social media channels, businesses can connect with customers around the world, expanding their market reach exponentially.

Cost-Effectiveness: Digital marketing campaigns often offer a higher return on investment (ROI) compared to traditional methods, especially for startups, entrepreneurs & enterprises with limited budgets. With tools like advertising & digital marketing, businesses can reach large audiences at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising channels.

Instant Feedback: Digital marketing allows businesses to gather immediate feedback from customers through comments, reviews, and social media interactions. This real-time feedback loop provides valuable insights into consumer preferences and allows businesses to adapt their marketing strategies accordingly.

Traditional Marketing:

Traditional marketing encompasses all the conventional methods of advertising and promotion that existed before the digital revolution. This includes print advertisements in newspapers and magazines, billboards, television and radio commercials, direct mail, and more. While traditional marketing techniques have been the cornerstone of advertising for decades, the rise of digital marketing has forced businesses to reassess their effectiveness in today’s landscape.

The Timeless Approach of Traditional Marketing:

Tangible Presence: Traditional marketing offers a physical presence that digital channels can’t replicate. Whether it’s a billboard on a busy highway or a well-designed brochure handed out at an event, traditional marketing materials provide a tangible connection with the audience.

Trust and Authority: A brand in a respected publication or on the radio can build trust and authority with consumers. Mixing Digital methods like graphic design, video ads, and print media with traditional marketing creates a well-rounded strategy. This not only grabs attention but also nurtures lasting trust and loyalty from customers.

Reaching Offline Audiences: Traditional marketing helps businesses reach these audiences, ensuring they connect with a wide range of potential customers. Even with the rise of digital marketing, some people still prefer offline methods. Long-standing businesses trust traditional marketing, while younger ones favor digital but still resort to traditional methods when needed.

Local Targeting: Traditional marketing methods like flyers, pamphlets, newspaper ads, and local radio spots are particularly effective for targeting specific geographic areas. Local businesses can use these methods to build a strong community presence and attract nearby customers effectively.

Brand Visibility: Traditional marketing channels such as billboards (Hoarding) and signage offer continuous visibility to passersby, helping to reinforce brand awareness over time. When it comes to choosing between indoor and outdoor marketing, think about what you’re offering and who you’re targeting. Both indoor and outdoor marketing help in business but it depends on your products and services.

Personal Touch: Face-to-face interactions at trade shows, events, and brand promotions not only create memorable experiences but also help trust and loyalty in a way that surpasses the digital realm. Moreover, the positive word-of-mouth generated from these interactions amplifies a brand’s credibility and extends its influence even further, solidifying its position in the market.

The Power of Integration:

Consistent Brand Experience: By integrating digital and traditional marketing efforts, businesses can ensure a consistent brand experience across all channels. This cohesive approach reinforces brand messaging and strengthens brand recall among consumers.

Expanded Reach: Combining digital and traditional channels enables businesses to reach a broader audience than they could with either approach alone. This multi-channel approach ensures that no potential customer goes unnoticed, maximizing the impact of marketing efforts.

Adaptability and Flexibility: In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, businesses need to be agile in their marketing strategies. By leveraging both digital and traditional channels, businesses can adapt to changing trends and consumer preferences more effectively, staying ahead of the curve.

Cross-Promotion Opportunities: Integrating digital and traditional marketing opens up opportunities for cross-promotion and synergy between channels. For example, a traditional print ad can drive traffic to a website or social media page, where customers can engage further with the brand and make purchases online.

Brand Consistency: By maintaining a consistent brand message across both digital and traditional marketing, businesses can strengthen brand identity and recognition. Consistency builds trust and credibility with customers, regardless of how they interact with the brand.

Accessibility and Inclusivity: Digital marketing, like optimizing websites for accessibility and mobile use, helps businesses reach and engage diverse audiences, including those with disabilities or limited access to traditional ads.

Conclusion:

In today’s marketing landscape, the marriage of digital and traditional strategies isn’t just beneficial—it’s essential. Traditional methods offer tangible presence and local targeting, while digital platforms provide global reach and cost-effectiveness. By integrating both approaches, businesses create a balanced strategy that maximizes reach, engagement, and impact. It’s not about choosing one over the other; it’s about harnessing the synergy between them to drive success in a dynamic marketplace.

By folding both worlds, businesses start on a journey of versatility and adaptability. It’s not a question of either/or but rather a celebration of both—and the magic that happens when they intertwine. Combining digital and traditional methods helps businesses reach new markets, build stronger connections, and achieve lasting success in a changing world. So, let’s raise our batons to the power of integration, orchestrating a symphony of growth, innovation, and prosperity.

Read More: https://alpesamedia.com/knowledge-center/

[thrilling-oneway]

IKIZULIVE / LOVE LIVE! BLUEBIRD master post

I'll be compiling what we know about Ikizulive so far to try and bring info about the project over to people who don't use twitter and are interested in getting into it. This post will be edited as more information is released so check back for updates.

About Ikizulive

Ikizulive or Love Live! Bluebird is a new project under the Love Live! franchise. While little information is known so far, their activities will primarily be held on YouTube and Twitter. It's speculated that this will be a Vtuber project possibly similar to Bandori's Yumemita spinoff, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. The official youtube channel can be found here, and the official twitter account here. Each character also has their own personal Twitter account, which will be linked in character bios below.

The project officially launched on May 12th with the release of character designs and their debut song, What is my LIFE?. More information will be revealed in the first cast stream on June 17th.

Story information

Not much about the story is known so far, but you can piece some information together from the tweets made by the girls. The girls attend an online high school called Love High School (Love学院高等学校, Love Gakuin Koutou Gakkou), which they shorten as L High (L高, Lkou). The academy has satellites schools in Asakusa, Tokyo (near Otonokizaka) in a multi-tennant building, Fukui (Fukui prefecture), and Umeda (Osaka prefecture). The facilities at the schools are poor, and they don't have a uniform. There are rumours that they may have to close due to a lack of funding and decreasing enrolment. Four of the girls at the Tokyo branch have started a school idol club called (roughly) Hard Life Club (いきづらい部, Ikizurai Bu), named such because they claimed an unused club channel on their school server which used that name.

The story is set at some point in the future after the Hasunosora story. On the character page of the official website, there is a heading that says "What are school idols". The description reads:

Idol groups that once existed across the country. Winning Love Live, a school idol competition, attracted a lot of attention at the time.

Interestingly, the group/project color is orange. Honoka is also quoted on the website. Though I might be thinking too hard about it...

Polka Takahashi (高橋ポルカ)

Self-intro

Twitter: @/polka_lion CV: Honon Ayasaki Image colour: Yellow Birthday: August 18th

A first year at L high's Tokyo branch. She enroled in online school after to failing her high school entrance exams due to being really bad at maths. She lives with her grandmother in Tokyo while her parents live overseas in Argentina. She doesn't like tight clothes and prefers skirts and shorts that are easy to move in, as she likes to dance, so she's happy about not needing to wear a uniform. She's not very good at using a computer, and Mai had to help her with learning how to use it and signing into lessons. She learnt about school idols not long after starting high school and decides to find some friends to start a school idol club with. She officially started IkizuraiBu with Mai, Hanabi, and Akira not long after.

Additional info:

She is 157cm tall (the same as Chika and Honoka, etc)

She doesn't know her blood type

Her hobby is taking naps

Her skills are the ability to nap everywhere, getting approached for street interviews often, and winning lucky draws

Her favourite foods are noodles (especially udon) and chocolate

She also likes cola, McDonalds, and ham cutlets and croquettes from the shop over the Sumida River

She claims she can understand cats

She uses a lot of emojis in her tweets

She speaks in third person

Mai Azabu (麻布麻衣)

Self-intro

Twitter: @/My_Mai_Eld CV: Rina Endo Image color: Blue Birthday: February 13th

Another first year at the Tokyo branch. She enrolled in online school so she could focus on her hobby/'job' as a programmer. Her parents made her attend in-person classes, and she reckons this is because she missed a lot of classes in middle school due to staying up all night and sleeping during the day. She values simplicity and doesn't like wasting time on school because it takes away from programming time, so she plans on watching her online lessons at 2x speed. She finds Polka a bit annoying at first and thinks she is the type of person who could easily fall for a scam. Mai also seems to be interested in making money, and wants her name to be known around the world. She is vice-president of IkizuraiBu.

Additional info:

She is 154cm tall (same as Nico, Ruby, etc)

Her blood type is B

Her hobbies are programming, datamining, and playing Minecraft

Her special skills are using a soldering iron and DIY

Her favourite foods are fruit (melon and grapes) and hamburgers

She likes the TRON Project

Has a younger sister who auditioned to be an idol and passed without telling her

She uses the nickname Maimai (My Mai?)

She likes ice cream, and would like an ice cream machine at school

She mentions using an avatar for her idol activities, suggesting she may know about vtubers

Akira Goto (五桐 玲)

Self-intro

Twitter: @/G_Akky304250 CV: Seri Miyano Image color: Light green Birthday: July 9th

A first year who moved to Tokyo from Numazu to attend L High. She's aiming to be a professional wall climber and has a strict training regimen and diet, and trains every afternoon after school. She's amazed at Polka's ability to make friends so quickly. She meets and befriends Polka by the river after school one day, and at some point decides to join IkizuraiBu.

Additional info:

She is 164cm tall (in-between Mari and Lanzhu)

Her blood type is O

Her hobbies are climbing, cycling, and strength training

Her special skills are handstands, Athlete Food Meister qualification, gift wrapping, and making things by hand

Her favourite foods are kale and nut salad, dried fruits, granola bars, and milk

She has heard of both Muse and Aqours

She lives with her aunt

She uses the ocean wave emoji in a lot of her tweets

She also enjoys cycling, and sometimes sings on her bike rides

Hanabi Komagata (駒形花火)

Self-intro

Twitter: @/hanabistarmine CV: Kokoro Fujino Image color: Red Birthday: June 11th

A first year at L High's Tokyo branch. She enroled in online school so she could balance school with working at her parents' kimono shop, and so she didn't have to join a club. She loves kimonos and wears them all the time, even wearing one to school. People often stare at her because of this, but she wants to normalise kimono-wearing in everyday life. She is stalked and abducted by Polka after school one day, but they hit it off as friends and she joined IkizuraiBu. She wants to be a modern-day Yamato Nadeshiko and kimono idol.

Additional info:

She is 160cm tall (the same as Riko, Shioriko, etc)

Her blood type is A

Her hobbies are kimonos and reading

Her special skills are fitting kimonos, calligraphy, and cooking food in the microwave

Her favourite foods are matcha sweets, mochi, and pasta

She's the only daughter in her family (she could have brothers, it's not specified)

She's good at hanafuda

She knows some English from helping tourists at the shop

She mostly tweets about kimono, and about what kimonos she thinks would suit others

Miracle Kanazawa (金澤奇跡)

Self-intro

Twitter: @/MiracleGoldSP CV: Aiha Sakano Image color: Pink Birthday: TBA

A second year student at L High's satellite school in Fukui. She's a pastry chef and runs an online bakery called MiraMiraMiracle Patisserie. She enroled in online school so she had more time to practice baking on her own after not liking the methods taught at confectionary school. She meets Noriko at school and offers her a muffin, but Noriko is incredibly shy around her. She finds this cute, and keeps bringing her more cakes. According to her self-intro, Polka convinced her to join IkizuraiBu so she could promote her bakery, but this has yet to happen in the story.

Additional info:

She is 152cm tall (the same as Hanamaru, Natsumi, etc)

Her blood type is AB

Her hobby is baking

Her special skills are baking, cooking, and pulling all-nighters

Her favourite foods are sushi (especially urchin and salmon roe), karasumi, and monkfish liver

She refers to herself as Mii (ミィ) instead of a traditional first person pronoun

Although her name would normally be read as Kiseki, it is officially read with the English translation. She also often writes her name in katakana (ミラクル).

She's only following Noriko

Seems to like coming up with nicknames, considering she uses three different names for Noriko

She offers a discount to classmates who order from her bakery

Noriko Chofu (調布のりこ)

Self-intro

Twitter: @/Noricco_U CV: Ria Seko Image color: Purple Birthday: April 4th

A first year student at L High's Fukui satellite school. She wants to be a voice actress, and is part of an agency, but she failed her recent audition. She thinks she's a boring person, and is extremely shy and struggles with interacting with others (social anxiety?). She wants to go to voice actor lessons in Tokyo but says her mum won't allow it, so she's looking for a part-time job to pay for it.

Additional info:

She is 153cm tall (the same as Leah and Ceras)

Her blood type is B

Her hobbies are watching anime, and reading manga and light novels

Her special skills are singing (she has perfect pitch), cleaning, and playing setter position in volleyball

Her favourite foods are sweet things, including baked goods. She liked puddings, cream puffs, and things with custard

She likes VTubers

She's only following Miracle

Miracle calls her Norichan or Norinori

She likes SpyxFamily

Yukuri Harumiya (春宮ゆくり)

Self-intro

Twitter: @/Yukuri_talk CV: Yuki Okumura Image color: Light blue Birthday: September 22nd

A first year student at L High's Umeda branch who enrolled so she could prioritise her ballet and theatre lessons. Her dream is to be an otokoyaku (woman who plays male roles) in Takarazuka Revue, although whether this dream will be possible is uncertain. She has an unspecified illness that is affecting her ability to perform. According to her bio, she joins IkizuraiBu to help Polka, though this hasn't happened in the story yet.

Additional info:

She is 165 cm tall (the same as Lanzhu)

Her blood type is B

Her hobby is theatre

Her special skill is ballet

Her favourite foods are somen noodles, jelly, gratin, hambuger steak, baumkuchen, and pickled foods

She isn't following any of the other girls

Aurora Konohana (此花輝夜) / Rollie

Self-intro

Twitter: @/rollie_twinkle (lmao) CV: Akane Amasawa Image color: Hot pink Birthday: January 3rd

A second year student at L High School's Umeda branch who has transferred from America. She's originally from Japan, but moved around abroad a lot due to her parents' jobs, with them currently being in LA. She thinks taking care of your hair and appearance is very important. She also makes videos talking about cosmetics and describes herself as an influencer.

Additional info:

She is 162cm tall (the same as Eli, Dia, etc)

Her blood type is O

Her hobbies are fashion and beauty

Her special skills are makeup, making coffee, playing soccer and matchmaking couples

Her favourite foods are coffee, baked beans, fried egg, and crispy toast (english breakfast...)

Like Miracle, despite her name being written in Japanese as Kaguya, it's pronounced like the english translation

She calls herself Rora (ローラ) in some tweets, and Midori calls her this too.

She talks in a lot of English, similar to Mari

She brought back souvenirs from LA, including a local team baseball cap, Anastasia cosmetics products and Trader Joe's eco bags

She's only following Midori

Despite her profile saying otherwise, her character description says that her motto is "love is justice"

Based on the "born this way" motto in her profile, she might be a fan of Lady Gaga

Midori Yamada (山田真緑) / Little green

Self-intro

Twitter: @/LittlegreenCom CV: Honoka Kotomori Image color: Green Birthday: May 7th

A first year student at L High School's Umeda branch. She's an environmentalist, and is always thinking about ways that she and others can help the environment. She spreads awareness about climate change and ways that people can combat it on her twitter account and by putting up posters at school.

Additional info:

She is 155cm tall (the same as Rin, Kasumi, etc)

Her blood type is A

Her hobby is camping

Her special skills are puzzles, identifying plant specimens, bug catching, fishing, stargazing, and kendama

Her favourite foods are smores, waffles, cream stew, and strawberries

She's only following Rollie

She recently worked a Earth Fes event and she donated her wage to the WWF

She met Rollie while working at the Earth Fes

She hates dodgeball

She liked reading a lot as a child

Shion Sasaki (佐々木翔音)

Self-intro (No profile card, her intro is different to the others)

Twitter: @/ShaunTheBunny CV: Aoi Suzunose Image color: Grey Birthday: November 11th

A first year-aged girl. She doesn't seem to like school very much and often skips classes. She also has a difficult home life, and mentions feeling a constant weight of parental pressure, and gets into arguments with them sometimes. From many of her tweets, it's apparent that she has depression. She mentions in one tweet that people online probably know her better than anyone who knows her in real life. She also releases videos/streams on another platform, including a video of her new school uniform.

She does not have a school profile card on the website, and it does not mention what branch she attends. It's possible she has not enroled yet

Her height and blood type are not listed in her bio

Her hobbies are social media, puzzles, reading, and model kits

Her special skills are violin and piano

Her favourite foods are meal shakes, french fries, ramen, and spicy foods

We do not know where she is from or where she lives

She's not following any of the other girls

She uses the pronoun boku (ボク), the third main girl to do so after Mia and Tsuzuri

She likes her new noise cancelling headphones

She also likes nighttime/midnight, since it's time that she can have to herself, and sometimes wishes morning wouldn't come

She likes coordinating uniforms

Seiyuu information

Here is a list of the seiyuu and their known twitter accounts/birthdays:

Polka: Honon Ayasaki (b. December 31st)

Mai: Rina Endo (b. October 4th, 2005)

Akira: Seri Miyano (b. January 5th, 2007)

Hanabi: Kokoro Fujino (b. March 31st)

Miracle: Aiha Sakano (b. May 31st)

Noriko: Ria Seko (b. September 19th)

Yukuri: Yuki Okumura (b. October 13th)

Aurora: Akane Amasawa (b. January 19th, 2003)

Midori: Honoka Kotomori (b. January 23rd)

Shion: Aoi Suzunose

(Yuki Okumura does not have a twitter account, and no information about Aoi Suzunose has been found online)

The seiyuu will do live activities such as streams and concerts just like the other generations. Their first stream will be on June 17th!

[wonnieluv]

Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night! - Mark Lee

Summary: In September 2024 you found out that you’ll be hosting Saturday Night Live in December! You’re a bit nervous and as time passes you realize you need to choose a musical guest. What happens when you request one of your favorite artists and he just so happens to be in NY that weekend for Jingle Ball AND has a new solo releasing the next Monday (you just don’t know about the solo yet). Will he say yes?

soloist!Mark x actress!reader

warnings: implied that Y/N reads fan fiction about Mark because I thought it was funny, fluff, kissing

masterlist

author’s note: I know all of Dream were in NY but for plot purposes Mark is a soloist in this fic because I didn’t want Y/N to seem like a solo stan for inviting Mark alone

“MATT IF YOU DON’T SAY SIKE RN I’M GOING TO HIT YOU” a woman’s loud voice echos through the apartment

“Y/N WHY WOULD I JOKE ABOUT THIS. I know this has been a dream of yours” A males voice can be heard from the phone in the her hand.

Let’s pause and give some background context, shall we?

Y/N L/N, accomplished actress at the young age of 23 years old. You’ve been acting since a young age starting on the Disney Channel. When you were a teen you made it out of Disney and began taking more rolls outside of the image you had previously crafted for so many years. Now here you are, a multi-academy award nominated actress (you’ve won a couple too 😉). You grew up watching Saturday Night Live with your parents and SNL was a goal you’d always wanted to achieve in your career which brings us to the present day. You’ve been booked to host SNL and you couldn’t be more excited!

"Matt can I call you back, I'm gonna go scream, cry, hyperventilate, and probably run a lap around the block" You tell your manager Matt, he's become more of your best friend in the time you've known him so he's pretty used to your dramatics.

"Yea, I'll get more details and discuss some contract related things with them and I'll swing by yours in a couple hours." He finishes hanging up the call.

You let out a squeal as you skip around your house. If you were being completely honest with yourself, you don't think you were this happy when you got nominated for your academy awards.

✈︎✈︎✈︎✈︎

As the days grow into weeks, Halloween is beginning to approach rapidly and you're on your way to meet with team at SNL to discuss of details that need to be prepared ahead of time for your episode.

your episode...

Yup! your episode in the 50th season of SNL. Things are moving quickly. It's already been almost a month since you got the call notifying you of your casting and you haven't been able to think of anything else. You're so excited to hear the pitches from the cast about the skits they want to do. Being able to work in this environment is like a dream come true.

One of the things you're nervous about is the topic of the meeting today. They want you to have a musical artist picked out so you will need to be providing a list of people that they can reach out to to ensure they get the artist booked before everyone has their schedules set for the holidays.

You arrive to the meeting greeting everyone in the room as you listen intently to what's being said. As time goes on you just get more and more excited about the process.

"... and finally the last thing we need to get ironed out today is who you'd like to have for your musical guest. As you know this episode will be airing December 14th so we'll need to be mindful of holiday plans and schedules so we really should get on this soon. For right now we'll get the name of the top artist you'd like to have and we'll have your management send over the rest of the list via email so we can get an artist booked as soon as possible."

You nod as you listen intently.

"So who is your top artist at the moment" He looks at you expectantly

"I'd like to have Mark Lee be my music guest. He's a singer and wrapper with a sizable following and I think he'd be a great fit." You try to come off confident but you know he has the power to just flat out say no if he wants

"Hmmm... I'll have to look into him before we make any calls but... we'll keep you updated." You nod in response.

You leave the building with a pep in your step and a smile on your face as you anticipate the coming months of preparation

✈︎✈︎✈︎✈︎

"Hey Matt, what's up" You ask as you pick up the phone. It's a Saturday in November so you were relaxing at home as you watch the people wrapped in their winter coats facing the cold of the coming New York winter.

"I have an update from SNL. I thought you'd like to hear this one."

"Oooh what is it?" He's piqued your interest

"They've confirmed your musical guest for your episode of SNL and the guest was from the list we gave them"

"OH MY GOD really?!?!!?! Is It Mark? Matt please tell me it's Mark." You didn't want to get your hopes up but clearly your attempts were futile for how much you were anticipating his answer.

"Stay calm Y/N... but yes... Mark's management just agreed to have him be your musical guest"

"...Matt...I'm going to mute myself real quick..." You quickly get out before muting yourself and screaming bloody murder into your pillow. THE Mark Lee... agreed to be YOUR musical guest... on YOUR episode of SNL...? Life just took a whole new turn of unreal. You've been a fan of Mark for a while now and him agreeing to join you is insane.

You clear your throat as you pick your phone back up again "...hey Matt... soo... Mark Lee... he said yes?"

"Yup he'll be in town for the jingle ball event that's happening the day before so they agreed to extend his stay for a couple of extra days"

"Great! I can't wait!"

"The SNL producers would like to hold another meeting soon to discuss the logistics with his team and with you so start preparing yourself mentally. I know you like him but don't try to jump his bones through the screen."

"Heyyyy, I would never..." You try to defend yourself.

"Yea yea... I'll talk to you soon"

✈︎✈︎✈︎✈︎

"Y/N it's good to see you again, I hope your preparations have been going well." One of the producers greets you as you enter the room

"They have! I'm excited to be back with you all again"

"Y/N this is Mark Lee and his manager, they're joining us through zoom from their company in South Korea. Today's objective is to talk over what our expectations are for Mark as the musical guest as well as clear up any questions. Shall we get started?"

You nod trying to focus on the task at hand and less of the fact that the man you've had a minor celebrity crush on for years isn't perceiving you over zoom at the moment.

"After we received your offer I put some thought into the songs I'd like to perform that day. I think this is a unique opportunity and I think the songs chosen will be perfect for the SNL stage" Mark begins

"We figured it'd be nice to start with a slower track with a nice intimate mood 200 - Minhyung's Version as it's a more unplugged acoustic vibe. For the second song we'd like to have Mark perform a single that is yet to be announced but will be releasing December 16th. It's called Fraktsiya. It's a hip hop song with a heavy 808 base and we think it would be a big draw for him and for the show to have it be the first time anyone hears it officially." Marks manager explains.

You can't help but perk up at the mention of a new song.

So does that mean I'd get to hear it for the first time in rehearsals? Before anyone else does..?

Not the time Y/N you mentally scold yourself for letting your thoughts wander during an important meeting. You shake away your thoughts and pay attention for the rest of the meeting.

"This was a very informative session, we'd like to thank you all so much for the opportunity to have Mark perform on such an iconic show" You hear his manager say as the meeting wraps up.

"It'll be our pleasure to have you here in December. We'll be in touch" The producer says before the call is cut and you're all dismissed

✈︎✈︎✈︎✈︎

December 14th, 2024, show day

Here you are, sat in your dressing room, running over your lines preparing for the final rehearsal before tonights live show. Due to his schedule at Jingle Ball yesterday night, Mark wasn't able to the join the rehearsal meaning you'll be seeing him for the first time today when you run through the show.

"Y/N it's time to head out" Matt gets your attention as you quickly get up and head towards him so the two of you can head to set

"Let's go" You say with a smile

"Keep your hormones in check when we get out there"

You slap his shoulder in response "Hey I am a very calm and composed thank you very much. It's not that big of a deal"

"Your tumblr history says otherwise" You freeze while looking at hime with your mouth agape

"MATT GET BACK HERE" You run to catch up to him

As the two of you arrive to set you're done smacking him for seeing your tumblr history and you’ve been able to mostly calm the bright blush that had appeared as you slowly approach the producer.

“Good morning Y/N are you ready to get started?” He asks as you and Matt reach him

“Yup! Let’s get started!”

You begin your final rehearsal with the opening monologue which goes without a hitch and finally the moment you’re waiting for, Mark is going to rehearse his songs

He comes out onto stage looking very casual as he introduces himself and checks his mic. You decide it’s for the best if you stand to the back to watch because you knew yourself. You wouldn’t be able to not ogle him so you may as well do it from the sides instead of in front of everyone…

God he’s so cool

As he rehearses 200, you can’t stop staring. He’s on a stool with a spotlight on him and the guitarist playing next to him and his voice is so melodic and calming. You’re blatantly staring at this point but you don’t care, he’s so charismatic and his aura is mesmerizing, you can’t help but watch intently.

“Thank you…” he says into the mic with a short bow as he finishes with everyone clapping for him. The producers chat with him and the band before they change the set for Weekend Update. You aren’t needed for this segments rehearsal so you head back to get some snacks from your dressing room. You arrive closing the door behind you taking a breathe pulling out your phone as you scroll for about 15 minutes before you get a text from Matt.

You power your phone off and you leave the dressing room. As you close the door and start walking down the hallway you’re met with a something hard that sends you stumbling back

“Oh watch out!”

You grab onto the wall next to you as you feel a gloved hand grab your arms to help stabilize you.

“You okay…?” You look up to see who you ran into and of course… it’s Mark

“Oh! Y-yea… I’m fine sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going” you mentally slap yourself for stuttering

“No it’s okay, I wasn’t looking either” he sheepishly scratches the back of his neck

You take in his appearance and you see he’s wearing the same outfit as earlier but his hoodie has been replaced with a long leather jacket

“Are you also heading to set?” You calm your inner fan girl and ask

“Yea I am, shall we?” He asks knowing that you’re heading that way too.

You nod as you walk next to him. The two of you having casual conversation. He told you about Jingle Ball yesterday and you told him about the cat you feed sometimes on your block that also happens to be named Mark (you didnt name him, you swear his collar said Mark when you found him)

“Dude there’s no way…”

“I swear. He’s got this old collar on him and I swear it says Mark. I’ll have to show you a picture.” You laugh at his disbelief

The two of you finally arrive to set and go your separate ways so he can get onstage as you find Matt giving you a knowing look.

In response you slap him before turning turn attention towards the stage.

An unfamiliar heat starts playing through the speakers as Mark comes out looking the same as he did when you saw him only now he’s sporting some expensive looking shades and he’s got this intimidating aura around him. He’s not the playful Mark you met in the hallway.

Your mouth fall agape as you watch him rap his new song exuding nothing but utter confidence

Yeah, how many schedules in a day? (Baby, listen)

He’s pulled his glasses down as he tilts his head down looking at the camera above the glasses so he can make eye contact

My airline miles fling honeymoon out of space (I said listen)

He turns his head look towards you as you says the line before redirecting his eyes ahead before adjusting his glass back to cover his eyes properly again

SM got to wait (SM, listen)

Phone is buzzing, uh, SNL shoot with Y/N

I said, wait

You’re frozen in your place as he says your name… did he adjust the lyrics? You know he did but it still made your heart race a little too hard. The fact that the entire song is him bragging about his accomplishments and you have a spot in the lyrics, even if it’s just an adlib for the live show. You have to calm yourself down at the thought

You continue to watch him finish his rehearsal with wide eyes. When he finished the song you clap along with the rest of the crew before continuing on with the rehearsal. You had a couple skits along with Mark who they included in one. He did really well despite the lack of rehearsal time and by the time you all finished you were feeling ready for the live show that night.

✈︎✈︎✈︎✈︎

You were sat in your dressing room after getting styled for the top of the show. You’ve got some down time so Matt left you to go probably flirt with one of the cast members he found cute (but wouldn’t admit it) so you’re relaxing in your chair trying to shake the nerves. Your mom flew to New York to watch live tonight so you really wanted to do well for her.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a knock on your door

“Come in” you say as you turn around to see who knocked and to your surprise… your met with the face of Mark Lee

“Oh Mark? I didn’t expect you to come by…” you say with a smile

“Yea… I had some downtime so I figured I’d stop by” he says walking in scratching the back of his neck awkwardly again.

“You look nervous” you laugh lightly

“Nahhhh… well… maybe just a bit” he says “but I think I’ll do fine. I think I’m more worried about how people will perceive the new song rather than whether I’ll do well”

“Hmmm” you hum in understanding “well I do owe you a picture of little Mark” you say pulling out your phone “oh! Feel free to sit down” you usher him over to the couch as you sit next to him

“Look” you show him a picture of a little orange cat that’s a bit chubby

“Awww dude he’s so cute”

“I know right” you pull back the phone and zoom in on the collar “look what I told you… he’s named Mark”

“That’s a crazy coincidence man… I have to meet this Mark sometime.” He laughs out

“Ooooh I don’t know about that. Two Marks within close proximity… the world might implode” you fake a shiver as you lean back on the couch

“Maybe your right” he chuckles at you before also leaning back on the couch

“Now how did you meet this Mark? He’s not a stray is he?”

“No… although that’s what I thought at first but I called the number on his collar and he has a home. He’s just an outdoor cat. He only comes home for food” You say thinking of the cat you’ve begun to love “If he was a stray I would’ve adopted him”

“Yea… maybe I should get a cat and name him Mark”

you chuckled at his response. “Mark and Mark. Sounds like a comic book”

“You know some people think I’m like Spider-Man… a superhero has gotta have a sidekick” He laughs looking at you

“Should I call you spider-mark then? You’ve got your guy in the chair and everything it seems.” You chuckle out

“Just you wait someday I’ll be in the spider-verse movies”

“I’ll look forward to it” you smile “you are missing one thing though”

“What is it?” He raises an eyebrow as he sits up and looks back at you

“Well you need an MJ of course” you say sarcastically as you look at him

He quirks an eyebrow at your statement “oh yea…” he pretends to think “I think I’ve got an MJ though too” he says as he looks at you “so I’m all set by your logic”

Your eyes widen slightly at his statement “oh yea. I guess so” you cast your eyes down for a second and when you look back up Mark is much closer to you

“You look disappointed” he says inching forward

“Why would I be…” you don’t move towards him but… you also don’t move away.

He smirks a little “I don’t know…” he brings up his hand a gently brushed your hair behind your ears as his face is just inches from yours

“I-“ you can respond before you hear Matt knocking on your door

“Y/N it’s time to get backstage” you and Mark immediately break from one another before you stand up and clear your throat

“Ok… I’ll be out in a second” you walk to your vanity grabbing your water and drinking some before turning back to Mark

“I should go…” you say to Mark, who has now risen from his spot on the couch and has begun to approach you

“Yea… you should…”

You look up and meet his gaze before beginning to walk towards the door. You don’t get very far before you feel a hand grab your wrist.

You don’t even have a moment to say anything before you feel a soft peck on your cheek

“Good luck…” he says softly

“Th-thanks…” you stutter out as your cheeks glow bright red.

You hurry out of the room and rush backstage to get ready for the start of the show

✈︎✈︎✈︎✈︎

The first half of the show goes by in a blur. All the sketches have been going really well and there has yet to be a problem. Now you're at the part you're most excited about Mark's stage

"Now introducing... Mark Lee" The audience claps as everyone becomes focused on him. He's dressed in black pants with a white button up unbuttoned with a tank top underneath. You listen as he sings 200, completely enamoured by him from your place behind the camera. You've realized you're beginning to fall for this man in the short time you've been able to really meet him and part of you wants to think he feels the same with the way (you think) his eyes shift to you behind the camera every so often. But you refuse to get your hopes up and get your heart broken.

He finishes up the song before heading back to get prepared for the next song as they bring out the Weekend Update set as usual.

You laugh as Colin and Micheal share their usual good jokes along with their bickering enjoying seeing the iconic pair in their element with your real eyes. Before you know it you're introducing Mark for his second song.

You take your place behind the camera once again as you take in his new appearance. His shirt now neatly buttoned with a tie around his neck. His thick sunglasses and his black leather clothes with his hair slicked back topping the look off made your jaw drop. He looked HOT

You watch the audience excited for their reactions to his new song and you could tell everyone loved it. You were so into the atmosphere that you almost forgot to pay attention to the stage and before you knew it, everyone was clapping and cheering for him.

✈︎✈︎✈︎✈︎

The show ends successfully as you say your goodbyes to everyone onstage before heading back to your dressing room to change into your regular clothes. As you've finished changing, you're collecting your things when you hear a knock on the door. You don't even get the chance to say come in before you see it open and Mark steps into the room.

"Sorry... I-" he sighs clearly a little unprepared

"You okay Mark?" You begin to step closer to him

"Yea yea.. I just thought you had left... someone said they saw your manager leave so I wanted to come check" He says a bit nervously

"Well I'm still here... so what do you need?' You look up at him but he's clearly avoiding your eyes.

"Well, I have to go back to Korea tomorrow... but I was wondering if... I could get your number." He says as he raises his gaze to meet yours

You softly smile at his request before you nod "give me your phone"

The two of you exchange numbers before you fall into some lighthearted conversation again. He's so easy to talk to. He laughs at your jokes and he matches your energy perfectly. He's just easy to be around.

You grab the rest of your belongings while you chat and once you're ready to go he walks you out to your car.

"This is it huh...?" He asks you hesitantly

"Well it cant be. You haven't met little Mark yet" You smile back at him. "Now you have a reason to come back to New York"

"Make that two..." He says softly

"Huh? What's the second-" You barely finish your sentence before you feel his soft lips on yours. After a moment of hesitation, you wrap your arms around his neck as his go to your waist as you reciprocate the kiss. It felt sweet, soft, careful, like he's testing the waters, but almost desparate, as he knows it'll be a while before you see each other again.

The two of you pull away "I'll see you soon... spidey..." you say softly with a smile on your face. You quickly peck his cheek before running into your car. You don't look at him out of shyness as you drive off with a bright smile on your face and 200 - Minhyung's Version blasting through the speakers of your car.

This took me way too long to write to I hope you all enjoyed this. Also yes I made up the SNL skit but it was FOR THE PLOT I’m not too proud of that part

[cloverapple]

I've been trying asleep methods since forever but i have no idea of how to do an awake method

You can find so much great advice about shifting your awareness while you’re awake, and I absolutely encourage you to dive into it because people explain things in all kinds of different ways. It’s like a buffet, and you can pick and choose what resonates with you.

The way I usually do it—and it’s better explained in this post—is I count to distract myself, detaching and sinking into a meditative state. I use my emotions to feel myself in my DR, letting hypnagogia do its thing and distort my awareness until I choose to shift.

But something I’ve realized recently is that the method of awake shifting, where you lay down and pretend you’re already in your DR or affirm that you’re about to shift, puts way too much focus on when you’ll shift. It creates this crazy pressure to shift instantly, to feel symptoms, to make it happen right then and there. Like, you have to shift in the blink of an eye. And it’s all on time, which isn’t always the vibe.

Removing the expectancy to shift at a certain time from awake shifting (or any method) and taking the pressure off could actually make a huge difference for people struggling with this. I’m not saying that deciding you’re already in your DR and trusting yourself doesn’t work. It does, trust me. But the mind doesn’t work on one straight path. Just like there are a million ways to learn something or think about something, there are many ways to go about shifting your awareness to another reality.

So, when you’re there doing your awake shifting process, remember a few things:

• Your subconscious already knows you intend to shift. Setting an intention isn’t this big, complicated multi-step thing. If you decided to lay down to shift, the intention is already there. Your subconscious knows. Let. It. Go. Unless it feels true to you, unless it feels good, empowering, or aligned, there’s no real need to keep hammering in phrases like “I’m shifting now,” “I’m going to shift now,” or “I am shifting.” You’re just giving it commands, when all you need to do is trust. Trust is the command.

• When you’re trying to convince yourself, trying to convince your subconscious into thinking you’re already in your DR, the core of whatever you’re doing—whether it’s convincing yourself your surroundings have changed or that you’re already there or heading there—is about one thing: feeling it emotionally. You’re trying to evoke the emotions of being there. That’s where it’s at.

But that begs the question—how do you let go while channeling emotions at the same time?

Well, here’s the magic formula I’ve mentioned a few posts ago: High Emotion + Low Attachment = Flow.

This is how we live life every single day without even realizing it. Think about it:

Throughout the day, you’re not fixated on the act of living itself. You’re just living. And how do you live? By experiencing emotions.

Shifting is the same way. You don’t focus on the act of shifting, you don’t cling to it. Your subconscious already knows what you want. You simply channel the feelings of being in your DR, of living in the end, of already having what you want. And you don’t get attached to it. Why would you be attached to something you already have, right?

Now, this is just one approach to shifting. This doesn't mean all other interpretations of shifting awake are wrong. Even this one might not resonate with you for all I know. You could tailor this advice to your own style; use affirmations, listen to music, meditate, or even treat this as a precursor to another method. You could toss this all aside and use stuff like assuming you’re already in your DR, assuming you’ll wake up there, or assuming you have the ability to shift— all perfectly valid methods I’ve recommended before because they work.

But here’s the thing about all of this, and this applies to asleep methods too: when you strip it down to the bare bones, deconstruct it to its simplest form, it’s all about this:

Trust + Feel + Let Go.

“I’m already in my DR” – It’s because you trust that you’re in your DR, you feel yourself in your DR, and you let go, relaxing into the experience.

“I’m shifting to my DR” – It’s because you trust that you’re shifting to your DR, you feel the emotions and sensations you would if you were in the process of shifting, and you let go.

“I will shift to my DR at any moment” – It’s because you trust that you will shift, you feel the emotions you would knowing it’s going to happen, and you let go.

“I’ve already shifted” – It’s because you trust that you’ve shifted, you feel yourself in your DR already, and you let go.

Each of these statements works because it boils down to trusting the process, feeling the reality as if it’s already true, and letting go of the need to control the outcome.

I hope this makes sense lmao <3 Good luck in any case :)

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The Assembly sees a cast of thirty-five interviewers who are autistic, neurodivergent or learning disabled, question an A-list celebrity for one extraordinary TV interview.

In this half-hour special, it's multi-award-winning actor and director, Michael Sheen, who is to face the grilling of a lifetime from the unique collective. No subject is out of bounds, no question is off the table.

On subjects as diverse as ex-girlfriends and on-screen kisses, to the OBE he gave back or his favourite motorway, how will the Good Omens star fare as The Assembly bring their unique approach to the celebrity interview?

The Assembly cast is a diverse cast ranging in age from eighteen to seventy-seven, amongst the group are musicians, artists, writers and students. Each will take their own approach in their attempt to get to the truth of Michael Sheen like nobody before has- whether that’s finding out his favourite sandwich filling or how he felt when his daughter was born.

The format is an adaptation of French show Les Rencontres Du Papotin, which saw the likes of Emmanuel Macron and Camille Cotin (Call My Agent) face the neurodivergent journalists of the Papotin. Gone was the flattery of the usual celeb fare – in its place, a mix of mischievous prodding, leftfield quizzing and profound exchanges. The superstars left completely off guard: actors asked about a driving ban or the death of a parent, the President asked if it’s really the behaviour of a role model to marry one’s teacher.

The show comes from Michelle Singer and Stu Richards' Rockerdale Studios, creators of mischievous content which seeks to put disabled agency at its heart. Stu is also known for co-creating and writing the BBC Three comedy, Jerk, and Rockerdale are most known for Channel 4’s Mission: Accessible.

Rockerdale Studios has worked closely with the BBC’s Creative Diversity Team, to ensure every element of the series works for and with autistic and neurodivergent voices.

The Assembly is a half-hour special to celebrate Autism Acceptance Week. Expect profound revelation, glorious chaos, and a lot of laughs.

The Assembly airs Friday 5 April, 10:40pm on BBC One and iPlayer

Interview with Michael Sheen

What made you say yes to being a part of The Assembly?

I said yes to being a part of The Assembly because it was just such an extraordinary and interesting idea. Then reading about the original French series, it just sounded so extraordinary, different and potentially a very revealing way to approach the tried and tested interview process, but obviously it is a lot more than just being an interview. The interview part of it is just one aspect of the project and I think there is still a lot of confusion, ignorance and fear around people with any kind of difference. I think being able to be involved in a project like this could maybe break down some of those barriers.

How is this different from any other TV show you’ve been a part of?

It’s very much unfiltered and that’s really exciting and quite nerve wracking for that reason! So much on TV is sort of smoothed out and filtered and made safe and this, certainly in the making of it, felt very not that! All the better and more refreshing for it too. I know a lot of work is put into the research and preparation for a show like this, but in terms of the actual questions being asked and the experience that you have in all being together when you’re filming, it feels very unpredictable in a really good way and really lead by the people taking part, which is terrific.

How did you feel going into filming?

Well I didn’t really have anything to go on, so I was excited. Sometimes when I’m going to be interviewed, I know what the interview is going to be about, I have a vague idea of the questions that will come up, I know the sort of things that I need to get across about what I’m there to talk about. But with this, I really had no idea what I was going to be asked, so I had to be prepared for everything and anything, there was a kind of freedom in that I suppose. Because of the unfiltered nature of what was going to happen and not being able to anticipate what might be asked, it was a little nerve wracking yes, but I was mainly just very excited!

Did your experience differ from what you were expecting and if so how?

Well I didn’t know what to expect really, so it’s not that it wasn’t what I was expecting because you can’t expect anything! There's no way you can expect anything because you just don’t know what’s going to happen, and because it is so unfiltered and unpredictable in terms of what might happen, where things might go, how people might be feeling on the day. For all the difficult questions that got asked at times, it just felt very loving and joyful and that everyone was very happy and excited to be there even though people were nervous or had anxiety at different times. There was a genuine feeling of community and I felt very welcomed into that community and ready to play so to speak, and you have to be ready to play. I felt very safe and looked after and it was just really, very funny as well – there was lots of laughter and wonderful things that people asked, responded to and performed, I mean I wasn’t expecting all of that, that was just wonderful! So many moments that I’ll never forget.

How does this compare to any other interview you’ve experienced?

It’s so unfiltered! The closest thing I can say is The One Show, where you go on to talk about one thing and then they ask you about everything else that’s going on on the show, so you get a question about your favourite bus route, then they ask you about otters! There’s an extraordinary pinball effect of questions and that’s the closest I could describe, but The Assembly is that x100. It really is extraordinary and that’s very unlike any other interview I’ve done really, usually everything is meant to follow on logically and have a kind of smoothness and polish to it, and this is just really raw and unfiltered and uncensored and I love that, I thought that was wonderful.

What can viewers expect from the show?

I imagine it will be very funny and I think quite moving. I was quite moved at times by seeing how much people had to struggle to overcome certain things they were dealing with in order to ask questions at times. That was uplifting. I think it will be different, it will be thought provoking I hope, and challenging in certain ways; challenging certain kinds of myths and stereotypes I think and ultimately just really entertaining and fun and joyful. I can’t really remember what I said, so I don’t know what people will learn about me... but it’s not about me, it’s about that fantastic group of people, but I certainly got a huge amount out of it too and I hope an audience will as well.

[wachinyeya]

by Cyrene Oraya Reyes, Fri 4 Jul 2025

Switzerland’s clean water initiatives have turned formerly polluted waterways into pristine swimming spots, making the country a model for nations worldwide facing water quality challenges.

In the 1960s, Switzerland had some of the dirtiest water in Europe. Rivers and lakes were choked with algae, foam, scum, and dead fish. Swimming was banned in many waterways, like the Aare and Limmat rivers, due to health risks from raw sewage and industrial waste flowing directly into these bodies of water.

Switzerland’s journey to clean water began in tragedy when a deadly typhoid outbreak in Zermatt in 1963 sickened hundreds and claimed lives due to contaminated water. The crisis pushed the country to take its water pollution problem seriously.

In 1971, wastewater treatment became a legal requirement. From only 14% of the population connected to treatment facilities in 1965, the number has soared to 98% today—proof of Switzerland’s strong commitment to clean, safe water.

According to 2023 data from the European Environment Agency, only five of Switzerland’s 196 designated bathing areas failed to meet quality standards. This remarkable achievement didn’t happen by accident or without cost.

The Swiss government invests heavily in water quality, spending about £174 per person on wastewater treatment in 2022. By comparison, England and Wales spent approximately £90 per person during the same period, according to analysis by Ends Report.

To tackle this, engineers developed advanced water treatment technologies like the ones used at the Villette plant near Geneva. This facility filters 250 liters of wastewater every second using a multi-step process. It removes visible waste such as trash, fats, and sand. 

Then, water flows into large basins where helpful bacteria break down organic matter. In the final step, the water is passed through activated charcoal, which soaks up lingering microchemicals. This process removes around 80% of micropollutants.

Switzerland upgrades around seven wastewater treatment plants annually with this advanced system. There are now 37 upgraded facilities nationwide, and the number is expected to grow to around 140 by 2040.

The Swiss approach has caught international attention. Water experts from other countries have visited these facilities to learn about Switzerland’s clean water solutions. The European Union has followed Switzerland’s lead, requiring wastewater treatment plants serving more than 10,000 people to remove micropollutants by 2045.

The results of Switzerland’s clean water initiatives are visible throughout the country. In urban centers, citizens enjoy swimming in rivers and lakes, which were once health hazards. These clean waterways have become vital community spaces.

At Lake Geneva, the Les Givrés swimming club brings together people from all professions and backgrounds. For many club members, these swims provide more than physical exercise.

Switzerland’s success offers valuable lessons for other countries struggling with water pollution. The Swiss model demonstrates that clean water requires political will across party lines, substantial financial investment, and regulatory frameworks anticipating future challenges.

While most Swiss citizens may not fully appreciate the complex infrastructure behind their pristine waters, they understand its importance to their quality of life. The transformation of Swiss waterways from polluted channels to community treasures shows how environmental restoration can enhance urban living.

As climate change and population growth put increasing pressure on global water resources, Switzerland’s journey from having some of Europe’s dirtiest water to possessing what locals call “blue gold” provides a roadmap for river restoration worldwide.

[unhingedangstaddict]

Several Sentence Sunday!

I know I have multiple other stories that I should be focusing on right now but this is where the dopamine was SO anyone up for a post s8e11 fix it x s8e14/e15 spec-ish bucktommy disaster fic with a side of mpreg? because I know I am. here's We've Been Missing Each Other And for extra kicks I'm making this a several sentence sunday post too!

TW: Gun violence, hostage situations/being held hostage, nausea/vomiting

Of all the firefighters in Los Angeles, it had to be Evan Buckley that approached Tommy’s helicopter. Tommy wasn’t even supposed to be working today. He wasn’t supposed to be flying at all. But the entire 217 B-shift and half of C-shift was down with some horrific stomach bug and unlike other stations, they couldn’t just borrow personnel from another firehouse. Tommy had been throwing up that morning, but it wasn’t the stomach bug that everyone else had and Tommy hadn’t told his captain that he couldn’t fly yet. They needed a pilot and before Tommy could say something there was a call and he was being sent out solo to stretch the number of available personnel as much as they could.

Over a hundred fire stations in LA, thousands of firefighters in Los Angeles county, and the one Tommy desperately needed to talk to, while simultaneously being terrified to, was the opening the doors of Air Ambulance Two right now. The one and only Evan Buckley.

Tommy had somewhat of an idea of how Evan really felt about him based on their last conversation in Evan’s new kitchen the morning after they hooked up- that was nearly two whole months ago now. Tommy had confessed that he missed Evan and had wanted to reach out- Evan didn’t share the sentiment-, Tommy had still hoped they could have a second chance and lowered the armor he’d kept around his heart and Evan almost immediately went for the kill. All Tommy knew was ‘this doesn’t change anything’ and ‘I don’t have to have feelings for everyone I sleep with’. That made things pretty crystal clear to Tommy. 

Tommy had no idea how Evan would feel about what Tommy needed to talk to him about. He’d wanted to reach out to Evan again after the hook-up but stopped himself each time. Evan had gotten what he wanted from Tommy. Some closure, a chance to deal a dose of the same heartbreak Tommy had dealt him months prior. It wasn’t Tommy’s place to be the one reaching out. Except now he had to.

This wasn’t at all how Tommy pictured seeing Evan again going. Years on the job, six months of dating, four months after the break up, and almost two months after the hook up and for the first time ever, Tommy was just now running into Evan on a call. Lucky him.

Tommy opted to go for professional with Evan right now. “Firefighter Buckley.” He nodded curtly, ignoring the churning in his stomach that signaled he’d probably be throwing up again soon. He hoped against all hope he could hold off and avoid needing to vomit while in the air.

Evan swallowed hard from the looks of it. “Pilot Kinard.” He used the same level of professionalism, same tone, same gesture in the form of a polite nod. “Hen and Chim are just prepping the patient for transport now.”

“Got it. Presbyterian already knows we’re just a few minutes out.” Tommy told Evan.

“Good.” Evan said.

Tommy looked out the windshield at the scene. Multi-car pile up. Unclear what caused it. Big scene, a lot of carnage.

“Get in the chopper.” An unfamiliar voice ordered.

Tommy wiped his head back to see what was going on and saw a man holding an automatic rifle to Evan’s head, forcing him in the chopper.

Evan looked at Tommy, wide eyed as he got in.

Tommy quickly looked back at his controls and hit a button to send an automatic distress call that went to the harbor-only radio channel and dispatch.

“Close it up!” The man ordered Evan, then turned the gun on Tommy. “Get us in the air, now. Either one of you tries the radio and I’ll shoot this guy.” He gestured to Evan.

Evan did as told and closed the door to the chopper.

Tommy lifted them off the ground without a word. If the circumstances were different, and if Evan wasn’t in the chopper, Tommy probably would’ve been far less obedient. But Evan was there, and there were other circumstances at play so Tommy did as he was told to. Tommy managed to keep his hands steady, and despite feeling panic, he did his best to appear calm. “What do you want from us?”

“You’re my ticket out of here.” The man explained. Over his headset Tommy heard a call over the radio. “Air Ambulance Two, where you going?” It was Howie. He seemed to be in disbelief. So was Tommy.

(read the more on ao3)

no pressure tags for @quintessenceofdust88 @laundryandtaxesworld @typicalopposite @ladyeyrewrites @30somethingautisticteacher @bidisasterevankinard @mustlovelou @agentpeggycartering @salty-autistic-writer @jamieroyjamieroy @loulou-land @desert--moonchild and anyone else who wants to participate in several sentence sunday or motivation monday!

[mariacallous]

These days, when Nicole Yelland receives a meeting request from someone she doesn’t already know, she conducts a multi-step background check before deciding whether to accept. Yelland, who works in public relations for a Detroit-based non-profit, says she’ll run the person’s information through Spokeo, a personal data aggregator that she pays a monthly subscription fee to use. If the contact claims to speak Spanish, Yelland says, she will casually test their ability to understand and translate trickier phrases. If something doesn’t quite seem right, she’ll ask the person to join a Microsoft Teams call—with their camera on.

If Yelland sounds paranoid, that’s because she is. In January, before she started her current non-profit role, Yelland says she got roped into an elaborate scam targeting job seekers. “Now, I do the whole verification rigamarole any time someone reaches out to me,” she tells WIRED.

Digital imposter scams aren’t new; messaging platforms, social media sites, and dating apps have long been rife with fakery. In a time when remote work and distributed teams have become commonplace, professional communications channels are no longer safe, either. The same artificial intelligence tools that tech companies promise will boost worker productivity are also making it easier for criminals and fraudsters to construct fake personas in seconds.

On LinkedIn, it can be hard to distinguish a slightly touched-up headshot of a real person from a too-polished, AI-generated facsimile. Deepfake videos are getting so good that longtime email scammers are pivoting to impersonating people on live video calls. According to the US Federal Trade Commission, reports of job and employment related scams nearly tripled from 2020 to 2024, and actual losses from those scams have increased from $90 million to $500 million.

Yelland says the scammers that approached her back in January were impersonating a real company, one with a legitimate product. The “hiring manager” she corresponded with over email also seemed legit, even sharing a slide deck outlining the responsibilities of the role they were advertising. But during the first video interview, Yelland says, the scammers refused to turn their cameras on during a Microsoft Teams meeting and made unusual requests for detailed personal information, including her driver’s license number. Realizing she’d been duped, Yelland slammed her laptop shut.

These kinds of schemes have become so widespread that AI startups have emerged promising to detect other AI-enabled deepfakes, including GetReal Labs, and Reality Defender. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also runs an identity-verification startup called Tools for Humanity, which makes eye-scanning devices that capture a person’s biometric data, create a unique identifier for their identity, and store that information on the blockchain. The whole idea behind it is proving “personhood,” or that someone is a real human. (Lots of people working on blockchain technology say that blockchain is the solution for identity verification.)

But some corporate professionals are turning instead to old-fashioned social engineering techniques to verify every fishy-seeming interaction they have. Welcome to the Age of Paranoia, when someone might ask you to send them an email while you’re mid-conversation on the phone, slide into your Instagram DMs to ensure the LinkedIn message you sent was really from you, or request you text a selfie with a timestamp, proving you are who you claim to be. Some colleagues say they even share code words with each other, so they have a way to ensure they’re not being misled if an encounter feels off.

“What’s funny is, the low-fi approach works,” says Daniel Goldman, a blockchain software engineer and former startup founder. Goldman says he began changing his own behavior after he heard a prominent figure in the crypto world had been convincingly deepfaked on a video call. “It put the fear of god in me,” he says. Afterwards, he warned his family and friends that even if they hear what they believe is his voice or see him on a video call asking for something concrete—like money or an internet password—they should hang up and email him first before doing anything.

Ken Schumacher, founder of the recruitment verification service Ropes, says he’s worked with hiring managers who ask job candidates rapid-fire questions about the city where they claim to live on their resume, such as their favorite coffee shops and places to hang out. If the applicant is actually based in that geographic region, Schumacher says, they should be able to respond quickly with accurate details.

Another verification tactic some people use, Schumacher says, is what he calls the “phone camera trick.” If someone suspects the person they’re talking to over video chat is being deceitful, they can ask them to hold up their phone camera to their laptop. The idea is to verify whether the individual may be running deepfake technology on their computer, obscuring their true identity or surroundings. But it’s safe to say this approach can also be off-putting: Honest job candidates may be hesitant to show off the inside of their homes or offices, or worry a hiring manager is trying to learn details about their personal lives.

“Everyone is on edge and wary of each other now,” Schumacher says.

While turning yourself into a human captcha may be a fairly effective approach to operational security, even the most paranoid admit these checks create an atmosphere of distrust before two parties have even had the chance to really connect. They can also be a huge time suck. “I feel like something’s gotta give,” Yelland says. “I’m wasting so much time at work just trying to figure out if people are real.”

Jessica Eise, an assistant professor studying climate change and social behavior at Indiana University-Bloomington, says that her research team has been forced to essentially become digital forensics experts, due to the amount of fraudsters who respond to ads for paid virtual surveys. (Scammers aren’t as interested in the unpaid surveys, unsurprisingly.) If the research project is federally funded, all of the online participants have to be over the age of 18 and living in the US.

“My team would check time stamps for when participants answered emails, and if the timing was suspicious, we could guess they might be in a different time zone,” Eise says. “Then we’d look for other clues we came to recognize, like certain formats of email address or incoherent demographic data.”

Eise says the amount of time her team spent screening people was “exorbitant,” and that they’ve now shrunk the size of the cohort for each study and have turned to “snowball sampling” or having recruiting people they know personally to join their studies. The researchers are also handing out more physical flyers to solicit participants in person. “We care a lot about making sure that our data has integrity, that we’re studying who we say we’re trying to study,” she says. “I don’t think there’s an easy solution to this.”

Barring any widespread technical solution, a little common sense can go a long way in spotting bad actors. Yelland shared with me the slide deck that she received as part of the fake job pitch. At first glance, it seemed like legit pitch, but when she looked at it again, a few details stood out. The job promised to pay substantially more than the average salary for a similar role in her location, and offered unlimited vacation time, generous paid parental leave, and fully-covered health care benefits. In today’s job environment, that might have been the biggest tipoff of all that it was a scam.

[mortish-writes]

some reassurances!!! i'm honestly glad you wrote in the zealot route alongside the heretic. i'd argue, from what i've seen, the zealot is pretty popular and she's a breath of fresh air in the genre. as someone personally religious (not christian), its nice to see someone navigate their fate and believe in it, but also come to terms with how it's been abused, revised, etcetera. also, opens the possibility zealot would be into other religions outside the confines of her own, which i find interesting. her also getting an option to hold out until marriage because of her own trauma as a bastard is also juicy and to be fair reflects how some people irl are. it's realistic for people to have misgivings about new arrangements that challenge their beliefs and to still hold onto them, despite revelations, because they decide this aspect at least is still worth keeping,,, zealot mc also has a point bastards won't be treated well and society won't be kind (and she's not hurting someone in choosing not to fornicate until marriage is involved besides the plot). gives her more control of the situation too, as you mentioned, and honestly makes her more proactive. heretic is sweet and deserves a hug, and i do like her, but the biggest reason I find zealot more fun and interesting is because she's punching the plot than just reacting to it like heretic, who's getting the plot's punches (i usually love angst, but imo zealot shapes the plot a bit more than heretic and it works better as an if for me),,, also, her character development will outwardly be more prominent. i can't wait to make her love being a mom and admit she loves these brutes! and that's the other thing too: i prefer her relationship to the guys vs. the heretic's because of taste, especially with valdricht.

so while you probably could've be further along if you just stuck to the heretic, imo it was the zealot who we were first introduced to and made us interested in the game! she still has her fans and i'm really grateful we have more than one way to play the MCs, especially with cult route coming up! sorry, this was long, i just wanted to come and bat for my girl a little bit because she's a big reason i got into the game and i find her more relatable and dynamic.

Wow, I was just about to head to bed and I'm so glad I checked Tumblr first. This is so thoughtful and I really needed to hear this. There's been this invisible gremlin on my shoulder all week grumbling "you could already be on night 10 if you hadn't added another route."

Even though the Heretic route is canon I actually love the Zealot route. I think a lot of times religious characters are written derisively (unless they're like nature worshipers or something) as if they're just mindless sheep. One of the things I really like about the Zealot is that she approaches everything from the framework of her faith, but she's also intelligent and open to learning new things. Far from being mindless, she simply lacks an alternate framework of understanding, and part of her character arc will involve developing that.

At the risk of getting a little too personal, I was raised by a pagan mom in a deeply Christian multi-generational household. Most of my childhood was my mom and my aunt battling for my soul. Weekends were a mix of Bible school and learning to channel energy into crystals. While other kids were playing tag, I'd be sitting in a tree contemplating whether my aunt was crazy or my mom was going to Hell. As an adult, I look back more favorably on my upbringing because it gave me an appreciation for both people of faith and the irreverent folks who give the finger to organized religion.

One of the things I particularly love about the Zealot MC is that her faith gives her the willpower to be more assertive with Valdricht and Serax. She has a better sense of her personal boundaries and she's snarkier even as her former faith is being eroded and replaced with The Weaver's cause. There are also other nuances to her character which I won't spoil, but will reveal how her dedication to her faith made her stronger and more resilient.

At the same time, I love how when the Heretic MC reflects on the same memory as the Zealot, hers is colored with skepticism and a degree of nuance that the Zealot simply isn't capable of. It's clear that she has this deep urge for self-expression and exploration that have been stifled within the confines of the Elodari faith. There's so much potential waiting to burst free when she finally breaks out of that shell.

Anyway, pretty long but it was a really thoughtful message and I'm grateful <3

[quietfounder]

I agree with Peri. Nickelodeon BETTER give them a season 2!

I'm gonna do everything I can to support this show's chances of getting renewed either by watching any reruns on the channel and being very loud & annoying towards Nickelodeon when fop: anw eventually drops on Netflix (maybe there can be a watch party).

I can just see all the potential stories they could tell in the s2:

Holiday episodes and multi-parters.

More characters from the original series making an appearance, like those two popular boys that hung out with Trixie.

Them having another sleepover at either Jasmine's or Winn's house with it also doubling as a dream episode.

Peri and Hazel bonding. She's his parents new godchild and he's her godparents son; let's do something about that!

Hazel getting input from others on making wishes (I can see her wishing for life to be more like a musical for Jasmine).

Hazel struggling with how to approach Dev with her wanting to resume their friendship or trying not feel awkward around him since he wouldn't remember (depends on how much his memories were affected). ...Or if Dev does remember (I have 2 pretty good reasons as to why I think this) then him continuing to put on this front to fool others or just sorta slipping into the background which will raise questions because he's not acting like his usual self.

Totally random but I hope they have something about rooftop gardens.

I read the series bible and I hope they'll still use the pixies for its plot.

[theromanticscrooge]

The Marilyn Portfolio, Untitled Bella Goth, and Professor Venomous' Self Portrait

Marilyn Diptych, Andy Warhol, 1962

After Marilyn Monroe's unfortunate death in 1962, Andy Warhol released the Marilyn Diptych. The base portrait is a cropped, zoomed in reference pulled from a promotional shoot Marilyn posed in for her starring role in the movie Niagara. This portrait was screen-printed 50 times in color to black and white with varying degrees of quality/deterioration. Warhol's intention was to marry commercial art and celebrity culture with the kind of worship and devotional imagery found in churches and Christian art.

The Marilyn Diptych takes part of its inspiration from classic triptychs: multi-panel works depicting religious scenes and figures. Where classic triptychs were made to endorse and deepen someone's faith in God, the Marilyn Diptych was commentary on celebrity worship and how celebrities could and were placed on pedestals similarly to religious figures. The portrait repetition mirrored how often Marilyn was typecast as a "dumb blond" in movie roles. Because of how heightened celebrities are, they are the subject of intense public scrutiny. Their personal lives are as much spectacle and centers of intrigue as the fictitious characters they portray.

Her public image was the blonde bombshell and sex symbol; a fantasy that men lusted after and women both envied and admired. When Marilyn was outed as a scandalous subject because of her past pin-up work or the dicey nature of her movie roles, it only strengthened her image and reputation. Though, the fact her past was placed under such scrutiny and everything about her was subject to similar microscope slide treatment shows how much more Marilyn was seen as a character instead of an actual person. Marilyn wanted her celebrity image to exist as a separate, distinct entity from her personal life. Warhol's various Marilyn works are described as a tribute to Marilyn's desire for just this. Works like Marilyn Diptych are part of the library of iconic imagery that draws attention to Marilyn, but the hope is to redirect and keep focus towards Marilyn the immortalized image instead of the person behind the image.

Marilyn Monroe portfolio, Andy Warhol, 1967

The Marilyn Monroe portfolio series is a popular set of images to pull inspiration from for other derivative art and even art assets in games or shows. The intent behind the Diptych is similar to the inspiration for the Marilyn Monroe portfolio series. Though, the biggest difference is that the portfolio works center more on channeling commercial art and playing with varying color theory. Each of the works can stand separately as an individual piece because of how the dramatically different color schemes can change the mood or theming of the portrait. These weren't made as a deliberate, cohesive whole like the Diptych. That said, the varied, careful, and deliberate approach to color theory sets the portfolio as a striking but convenient set to reference or recreate.

In The Sims 2, the in-game Bella Goth pop art piece Untitled draws inspiration from the Marilyn portfolio series. Not only is the in-game art named after one of the Marilyn portraits, Untitled features a magazine posed and smiling series of Bella Goth in 9 different color variations.

Bella Goth has become an unofficial mascot for the Sims series ever since The Sims 2. In the original Sims, Bella, her husband Mortimer, and their daughter Cassandra were inspired by the classic kooky, creepy, and lovable Addams family. They share the Addams' love for Gothic and the macabre; they dress in darker colors and live in a Victorian flavored mansion next to a prominent graveyard. Most people are also familiar with Gomez and Morticia as a pair of hopeless romantics. Gomez peppers Morticia with shameless flirts and kisses. One of the iconic scenes in the 90's theatrical movies features a series of champagne corks popping off as Gomez dips and deeply kisses his wife. To an extent, Mortimer and Bella are supposed to recapture or echo Gomez and Morticia. Player success in recreating this are varied because of the finicky mood and intensive needs micromanaging Sims requires. If players can kick off successful romantic interactions between Sims, one of the kiss options is 'Passionate,' which features a tender embrace and dramatic music swell. This isn't directly related to Mortimer and Bella, but it isn't a stretch that these two might perform these interactions autonomously on a community lot.

After the Sims, Mortimer and Bella's relationship becomes muddied. Where Mortimer and Bella could be seen as a do-not-separate unit before, Bella easily overshadows Mortimer or the other Goths as a notable figure in her own right. In the PSP spin-off for Sims 2, Bella confides in the player that she only married her husband for the money and was in the process of running away from him period. In the mainline Sims 2 for PC, Bella has mysteriously disappeared. In-game bread crumbs point towards alien abduction, potential meddling from Bella's freshly-introduced sister-in-law that has convenient family ties with aliens, and Bella's prominent feature in the art for the paranormal-flavored and Area 51-inspired neighborhood Strangetown.

Game devs wrote an official Q and A with the Bella in Strangetown on the unfortunately-retired Sims 2 site. This Q and A was dropping further breadcrumbs about nefarious actors trying to use her as a means to get to Mortimer's neon green life-extending potion. There's no direct confirmation as to the why behind Bella's abduction, let alone concrete details on what happened after. Everything is a series of vague hints; pieces that the player strings together for their own personal soap opera. Overall, Bella's disappearance is something that has fascinated and enraptured players for years. There's still people writing stories, speculating, and drumming up theories about her 20 years later!

In game, Bella is portrayed as a beloved and highly charismatic socialite. She's a local celebrity. Artists are so enchanted by her that she has several pieces of in-universe art and sculpture modeled after and made in tribute to her specifically. Placing Bella as the subject for an art piece inspired by Warhol's Marilyn Monroe portraits is a stroke of genius. Bella is an iconic, larger-than-life figure among her in-universe admirers and Sims enthusiasts alike. The mystery around her catapulted her from fun pre-made character to such an established character in Sims canon that players expect some news about her or some hint at her presence in every existing Sims game, past and upcoming. She's beautiful, she's tragic, and she's such a mystery. Because of how few details players have to work with or piece together, Bella captures the imagination and plays with the theater of the mind. Regardless of how effective Simmers may consider Bella's story, it's become a front-and-center example for the storytelling potential a Sims game can have.

Marilyn is described as the postergirl for Hollywood glamour and part of celebrity culture. She has a very iconic look: heavy lidded eyes, sculpted bob, and red lips. Bella is considered fashionable and glamorous. While there has been some variation in her hair color, she's best known for her classic red dress. No matter how Bella's design or fashion is changed to try and keep pace with changing trends, the red dress is a staple. Red is Bella's trademark. In a fitting way, Bella is the immortal icon of the Sims world. She may have an official playable Sim in Sims 4, but her presence as a figure in Sims 2 will always eclipse or influence every following iteration of her in some way, shape, form, or respect.

(I included Boxman's set of Darrell portraits here as a potential nod to the triptych inspiration behind the original Diptych.)

There's also a Marilyn Diptych inspired portrait of Professor Venomous in the cartoon O.K. K.O. This portrait is prominently featured on his wall whether its at his house or in his personal office at Boxmore. Lord Boxman has a repurposed version of Michaelangelo's famous Creation of Adam mural placing himself in the role of God and his robot kids as the 'Adam' or otherwise reaching out towards him. This repurposed art is a cheeky nod towards Boxman expressing sentiments like 'I am your god!' to his first robot Mr. Logic and how much emphasis he places on the power trip he holds as the Boxbots' dad. Given the context of the original Marilyn portfolio, the Professor's variant might be part of his attempt to reconstruct himself and his self-image. The Marilyn portraits depict a very specific version of her; a very careful and highly curated image.

As soon as viewers learn about his alter-ego Shadowy Figure, the Professor tries to present the split as a Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde situation. Professor Venomous is his smooth-talking, level-headed, and reasonable public image. He has moments of being obnoxious or showing some irritation, but he usually tries to school his expressions. There's some level of restraint and control. Shadowy Figure is openly cruel and sadistic. He's the culmination of the more impulsive and desperate things Venomous wants to do: In his previous role as Laserblast, he was publicly reamed for suggesting inventions like a ray that permanently debilitates super powers, shrinks someone to subatomic level, or other obvious harm. He's openly evil as the Professor, but still feels some need to protect his image and reputation. He's still a very private and guarded person. At the very least, the increased secrecy as Shadowy Figure is an extra layer to make it harder to trace anything Venomous-related back to Laserblast and reveal his big secret.

Narrative ties aside, the Professor's portrait is also an interesting parallel to some of the art direction choices around him. Marilyn Monroe was considered a sex symbol. As Laserblast, he was called 'the hot hero' in a newspaper headline for his obituary. Otherwise, the Professor was given an elevator eyes treatment from Lord Boxman. That scene can be argued as a POV camera that's similarly applied to Boxman from Venomous' perspective and again applied in a ship-bait scene between Enid and Red Action. There's also the how-did-this-slip-past-censors scene where the Professor is leaning back in his office chair, legs spread, and slight drool dripping from his mouth. That scene has the same energy as a sex appeal fan service camera in most anime. The camera is full-on ogling Venomous here. This move was as deliberate as Studio Bones turning a Reigen Arataka undress and shower scene into something more dramatic and theatrical than the mundane, candid shot it is in the manga it was adapted from. At least Reigen's scene has a layer of irony to it; it's a Poe's Law situation where viewers aren't 100% sure if the fan service approach is a joke or earnest.

It's not an appropriate one-to-one comparison to Marilyn's sex symbol status, but it's interesting to look at both the cartoon's portrayal of Professor Venomous as well as fan reception. He's part of the ever-growing library of Tumblr sexymen and given draco in leather pants treatment. In a roundabout way, the Professor's pop art portrait is a reflection of the complicated commentary around Marilyn and what dialogue the portfolio and other works have drummed up about her image and celebrity culture in general. Characters like the Professor can drum up interesting conversations about how 'sexy' villains are portrayed, how that might impact the way people interact with the story/media they are from, and what it says about the play between someone's looks vs their actions. In the Professor's case, his looks arguably help drum up more sympathy than he might get otherwise. The bigger part of his particular story is about reputation and public image than physical appearance, though. Even when he has a come-to-Jesus moment with his ex, he has a moment of L'oreal model pout, but that doesn't stop Carol from attacking him or demanding answers.

In a nutshell, it's interesting to pick out a Marilyn-inspired self-portrait as part of the Professor's decor. Looking at the history or commentary around Warhol's Marilyn portraits, there's strong emphasis on her identity as a cultural icon vs who she was in private. The commentary centers on her lack of privacy; she's not allowed to have a separate life outside of being a celebrity. Profesor Venomous' portrait borrows this commentary and applies it to his ongoing struggle with identity. He managed to escape a role that didn't fit his values or personal self-image, but he still felt forced to create and maintain a new identity. There was always some tug of war between his private self and how he wanted to portray his public image. The other example pulled from Sims 2 highlights the difference between Bella Goth as a grand mystery vs the mundane Sim she is when she's actually playable.

Regardless of what someone thinks of the original Warhol Marilyn works, there can be some nugget of intriguing character writing or other commentary when a character is deliberately centered in their own Marilyn-esque portfolio.

[coasttickets]

On July 22, 2025, the world lost a true rock legend: Ozzy Osbourne, the iconic frontman of Black Sabbath and a solo artist who shaped the sound of heavy metal, passed away at the age of 76. Surrounded by family and loved ones, his death marked the end of an extraordinary life that left an indelible mark on music and culture. Just weeks before, Ozzy delivered a final, heartfelt performance at Birmingham’s Villa Park during the “Back to the Beginning” concert, reuniting with Black Sabbath’s original lineup. Despite his struggles with Parkinson’s disease and spinal injuries, he took the stage one last time, telling his fans, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart” for their unwavering support.

Ozzy’s musical journey began in 1968 when he co-founded Black Sabbath, a band that would redefine rock music. Their debut album, Black Sabbath (1970), is widely credited as the birth of heavy metal, blending dark, heavy riffs with Ozzy’s haunting, unmistakable vocals. The album’s ominous tone set a new standard, paving the way for an entire genre.

The band followed up with classics like Paranoid (1970), featuring anthems such as “Iron Man” and “War Pigs”, and Master of Reality (1971). These albums solidified Black Sabbath’s place in music history and showcased Ozzy’s ability to channel raw emotion into his performances. His voice—both eerie and powerful—became the heartbeat of the band’s groundbreaking sound.

After parting ways with Black Sabbath in 1979, Ozzy didn’t just survive—he thrived. His solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz (1980), introduced timeless hits like “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley”, proving he could evolve while staying true to his heavy metal roots. Over the decades, he released 13 studio albums, many achieving multi-platinum status, and sold over 100 million albums worldwide. His resilience and creativity shone through, even amidst personal challenges, cementing his status as a rock icon.

Often dubbed the “Godfather of Heavy Metal”, Ozzy’s influence on the music industry is immeasurable. Bands like Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera have all cited him as a major inspiration, and his music continues to resonate with new generations. His fearless approach to songwriting and performance broke boundaries, making heavy metal a global force. As Metallica’s James Hetfield once said, “Ozzy’s voice is the sound of rebellion and freedom.”

Ozzy’s impact extended beyond the stage. In 2002, he and his family starred in The Osbournes, a reality TV show that offered a glimpse into his life as a husband to Sharon Osbourne and a father. The show humanized the rock star, revealing a softer, more relatable side to the man behind the music. His marriage to Sharon, who also managed his career, became a cornerstone of his life, providing strength through fame’s highs and lows.Ozzy’s personal struggles were no secret. He battled addiction for years, a fight that became part of his narrative of survival and redemption. His openness about these challenges, coupled with his eventual triumph, inspired countless fans. “I’m just a regular guy who happens to sing in a rock band,” Ozzy once said—but to millions, he was so much more.

Ozzy’s contributions have been celebrated time and again. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice—once with Black Sabbath in 2006 and again as a solo artist in 2024. He won multiple Grammy Awards, including one for “I Don’t Want to Change the World”, and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Yet, his greatest legacy lies in the connection he forged with fans, who saw in him a figure of authenticity and perseverance.

Ozzy Osbourne may be gone, but his music and spirit will live on. His songs—marked by raw energy and unrelenting passion—continue to echo through time. As we say goodbye to this trailblazer, survivor, and voice for the outsiders, we’re reminded of his own words: “I don’t want to change the world—I just want to rock it.” And rock it he did.

Rest in peace, Ozzy. Your legacy will thunder on forever.

[bad-and-drawn-that-way]

Electric Love - Full Chapters

Want early chapters? Read on Ao3!

Chapter 1: Not What I Expected

Notes: Support me by reading on Ao3! Kudos and comments help motivate me to see multi-chapter fics through to the end! I'll be posting announcements for the updates here. Chapters will come out on Ao3 BEFORE tumblr.

Some shit in this will probably be really OOC, but it's fanfiction so who cares? Enjoy!

Word Count: 6090

It was a day in hell like any other. Flashing cameras, idiots who came to Vox with questions below his caliber, the whole works. The overlord was half tempted to cancel any appointments he had after the current debut he was waiting to go on stage for. The only thing he wanted was to go home and eat an obscene amount of junk food while he zoned out to reruns of one of the shitty soap operas that ran on one of his channels.

He could hear the crowd of anxious paparazzi and ass-kissers just past the stage as he pocketed his phone with a deep sigh. Ignoring the concerned crewman who signaled it was time for him to go on stage, Vox grit his teeth and stepped onto the stage, immediately adopting an entirely different persona with a practiced smile. 

Cameras flashed and the crowd got louder as people cheered, shoved each other out of the way and paparazzi rapidly fired questions at him with microphones pointed his way. Vox resisted the urge to roll his eyes. You’d think that any experienced reporter with half a brain cell would know the chances of getting a response to such behavior was zero to none, and yet he was so familiar with the approach that it was boring.

Despite his disdain, Vox waved and grinned proudly as he stepped up to a podium in front of a large screen. "Hello my loyal audience and fans,” he speaks with a clear and confident tone. “Today we at VoxTech have quite the exciting announcement to make. For too long, we have been limited to regular television and radio media, well no more! Introducing VoxTube, the new innovative way to stream content and enjoy it at any time.." the crowd cheered and whistled louder at the sound of the word 'streaming' and then they all gasped at once during the reveal.

Vox paused to dramatically look away from the crowd for a moment, his eyebrows arching and the corner of his mouth curling up slightly, before looking back towards the crowd again with a smug grin on his face. "And now.. for the moment you've all been waiting for... the grand reveal!" Vox said as the crowd grew even louder with excitement.

Just as the screen behind him shifted to reveal the new platform, the screen flickered before showing a logo that was very much not his. In fact, it was the logo of the damned rival company that had been a thorn in his side for the past few months. “Oh for fucks, sake, not this again,” he muttered as he looked to the side to see his production crew scrambling behind the scenes to shut down the takeover.

The large screen was supposed to be demoing the “new” platform that was really just a rehashed regurgitation of an older platform. This was supposed to be just a quick cash grab, but now it was just a problem. Vox glared at the stupid halo logo as an unfamiliar, but jovial voice seeped through his speakers like a virus.

"Tired of being controlled? Tired of not being about to tell if your information is being leaked or if VoxTech is brainwashing you?" The voice asked as it revealed distasteful footage of mindless sinners in front of VoxTech products. "Then try Eternal Entertainment. Your anti-Vox streaming and video platform, completely free of VoxTech networks. Take back control of your experience!"

The crowd was silent as the screen played a jingle before going dark. It took all the self-restraint Vox had not to glitch out on the stage when he knew the cameras were still rolling. Immediately, the crowd had their phones out, downloading the new app. Reporter cameras were flashing as sinners got as close to the stage as they could. Microphones were shoved in Vox's direction as a dozen voices asked him about the new competition.

"Ah-ah-ah... Now, let's not be so hasty, hmm?” Vox turned to the crowd with a strained grin. “This so-called 'Eternal Entertainment' is merely slander propaganda! There’s no history, nor a face to the name of this company. There’s nothing to trust! At VoxTech, we care about users' safety and provide hell-wide coverage that this ‘competition’ simply can’t beat." Vox said, trying to convince the crowd that it was a mistake to download the rival platform.

"What about the rumors of Vox programs being coded with hypnotic influence?” A reporter asked as they shoved down another. “This new rival platform promises protection from the threat of corporate dating mining and influence. What do you have to say about that?" A reporter asked.

"Hypnosis? No no, no.. that’s ridiculous!" Vox scoffed, shaking his head as he tried to sound convincing. "It’s already been proven that any rumors about such malware were nothing more than scandalous lies created to discriminate against the powers of tech demons like myself,” Vox said, theatrically shaking his head as he played the card his PR team had him prepared for at all times. 

“Look, you know you can trust and rely on the wonderful VoxTech. We have been nothing but honest and transparent... unlike those frauds at 'Eternal... uhh..'," Vox tried to remember the name of the rival platform.

"Eternal Entertainment!" Someone from the crowd yelled. "It already has 300,000 downloads!"

"See? That’s nothing!” Vox laughed with a strained smile. It was something. Low numbers for a platform overall, sure. But to already have that many downloads mere minutes after the hijacked debut? Yeah no, Vox was freaking the fuck out. 

The crowd continued to get louder, and Vox felt anxious electricity thrumming through his veins. Everything was getting overwhelming and he only had so much bullshit he could come up with on the spot before he started contradicting himself. He continued to smile as his magic pulsed through the nearby cables of the stage as he searched for anything he could use as an escape. He found a security camera in an alleyway a few blocks over and put on a professional grin. He just needed a closing statement, and he'd get out of there. Easy.

"Well then," Vox cleared his throat and put on his best, most charismatic smile. "I promise you all, this so-called “Eternal Entertainment”, is nothing but a passing fad! It's just a desperate attempt by the competition to try and take you away from the best hell has to offer. The very best streaming and media..." Vox's eyes narrowed as he looked around at the crowd and his smile slowly faded. "Me."

The chaotic crowd suddenly fell silent as his screen flooded their vision with red and black spirals. The sound of a pin dropping would be deafening compared to the frantic clamoring that had filled the space only moments ago as Vox flooded the crowd’s minds with VoxTech propaganda and affirmations. Once he was content, Vox used the camera to teleport to the alleyway while the crowd was left temporarily mindless.

“F̸̛̫̝̉u̴͑͜c̵̮̀ḱ̷̩̆î̴̩͘n̴̯̬͐g̷̮͌̚ piece of shit m̷̨͙͗o̴̲͎͐t̸͉̜͒h̷̙̃e̶͎̦͋r̵̟͘f̷̱̄͒û̸̥ć̵̙ͅḱ̶̡́ę̷͎̄ŕ̵̠̳ś̶̝͗,” Vox swore as his screen glitched hard the moment he was out of sight. He continued to swear and vent out his frustrations as he kicked an empty paint can on the ground next to a dumpster. Fortunately, there weren’t any sinners passing by to witness his tantrum. He wasn’t in the mood to drop another fucker until they were brain-dead.

Once Vox got the rest of his frustrations out of his system, he collected himself and sighed. He pulled out his phone and opened the app store, cringing as he saw the rival app rising in the trending downloads. He closed his eyes and focused his abilities as his power surged through the network and hunted down the source engine running the app. With so many devices accessing the network, he was able to narrow down the location quickly.

"Perfect,” Vox said with a sinister grin. “Now to take care of this problem once and for all."

Any time he’d tried to hunt down Eternal before, Vox had run into dead end after dead end. He couldn’t track down the sinners running the rival software, nor could he track down any of their host servers. The hubris of his newfound enemy would be their undoing. Anyone in the entertainment industry worth their salt knew how easily things could be exposed upon release. By loudly announcing their debut when they hijacked Vox’s presentation, the company had left themselves wide open for him to latch onto the smallest flaws and hunt them down properly. 

Vox wanted to destroy the place and make sure that their platform never gained any kind of popularity or power in Hell ever again. He finally pinpointed the location where the platform was being hosted and was pleased to find it wasn't anything impressive. There was no polish. The building didn’t even look like it was any sort of office or official business. If anything, it looked uninhabited. He pulled up the address on his screen to see what he could find out about the location’s history. 

The building was a rundown observatory run by some random sinner he couldn’t care less about before one of the biggest exterminations of the past century. The neighborhood the building was near had been so thoroughly gutted by the angels that the entire area was abandoned due to superstition. Well… as abandoned as any corner of the overcrowded ring of hell could be. It was the perfect place for unsavory types to hide in the shadows. 

Vox scanned the exterior and his smirk only grew as he took note of the lack of any sort of security. "This will be easy..." Vox said to himself as he locked on to a computer screen he sensed inside of the building. Wanting to get the drop on his cocky competition, he teleported his way inside the old, abandoned observatory. Vox was expecting a potential fight. Maybe guns. Probably a lab full of desk jockeys. What Vox didn’t expect was for his feet to barely touch the ground before he found himself suddenly in agonizing pain. His vision was clouded over with purple smoke and he heard the sound of glass shattering as his entire body short-circuited hard from the overwhelming pain.

Vox screamed, dropping to his knees as his systems malfunctioned from the icy-hot burning sensation shooting across his skin. His face bluescreened and his vision went dark. The last thing he heard as he lost consciousness was the sound of someone swearing and footsteps rapidly approaching him as he passed out.

----

Vox gasped as he felt his systems finally reboot. He ran an internal diagnostic as he sat up to look around, dazed and disoriented. The burning sensation had faded, but his head was pounding. His vision slowly cleared as he took in his surroundings. It looked like he was in some sort of office.There was a large, overflowing bookshelf by an open window and a desk with an impressive computer set-up on it. Vials filled with purple, sparkling mist were scattered around the entire room, all with different labels on them. The space was messy, yet somehow… cozy. At least, it felt more comfortable than the majority of the sleek areas of hell he was more familiar with. 

Vox looked down and quirky an eyebrow as he held up the soft blanket draped over his lap. He tried not to think of what sort of diseases could be lurking in the old couch he was lying on as he processed the situation.

"W... what..? Where am I… How did I get here...?" Vox said as he blinked a couple of times, trying to remember what had happened before he lost consciousness. "What the fuck is this place?"

"Oh shit, you're awake!" A voice startled Vox and he tossed the blanket off of him as the door to the office pushed open. He hadn’t noticed that it had been cracked open, nor had he noticed you waiting for him to wake up out in the hallway.You’d been leaning against the doorframe and scrolling through social media as you waited for him to regain consciousness.

 You stepped into the room, smiling sheepishly as you pocketed your phone, “Sorry, I didn’t want you to wake up alone and be confused, but it also felt weird to just sit in here. How are you feeling?”

Vox didn't know what to expect when it came to his new rival, but he couldn't have imagined you. Hell was full of sinners of all shapes and sizes. Vox had seen some crazy shit, but he’d never seen someone as… soft as you. You weren’t dressed to the nines or in some wild costume like most. Instead, you were just wearing sweatpants and an oversized hoodie with your hair pulled back in a messy bun. You looked like a burnt-out college student rather than a sinner trapped in hell.

“You know,” you smirk. “I may not have been the one running the campaign against you, but you may have wanted to take that whole anti-Vox thing a bit more seriously before just barging in here.”

"You're... the owner of the rival platform..?" Vox said as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes and no," you cringe. "Normally, I’d be chasing you out of here with a broomstick, but I might have royally fucked up and have no idea what I’m doing," you admit.

“What?” Vox asked flatly. He had been expecting tech bro assholes who would monologue at him in an attempt to piss him off. He’d been expecting the run-of-the-mill hellish power-hungry welcome he’d come to love tearing to shreds any time someone was stupid enough to try to overthrow him. He expected literally anything else but this.

“It… would probably be easier to just show you,” You sigh as you walk over to your computer and wake up the idle screen.

Vox stood from the couch and crossed the small office to look at the screen.  It revealed that millions of sinners had already made accounts on Eternal Entertainment’s new platform, and a decent amount of accounts had already started uploading content. To say it was successful would be an understatement.

"Millions..." Vox muttered under his breath, feeling more and more threatened by the platform as he saw the success it was already having. "How the hell did you manage to pull this off?"

You chuckle, rubbing the back of your head nervously. "Yeah, uh, about that... I don't... know."

"You don't k̴n̷o̵w̵?̴" Vox flipped on you with a spark. His eye twitched as he tried to pick apart your game. Were you bragging? Were you about to threaten him? Were you a fucking idiot?

"Excuse, the fuck, me?” Vox growled as he grabbed your hoodie and pulled you forward. “Do you mean to tell me this was just some fucking pet project or some shit?"

"Yes and no?," you cringed as Vox made it clear how fed up he was getting with that answer.

Normally, you wouldn’t let anyone yank you around, but you’d dug yourself into some pretty deep shit. The guilt that came with that kept you complicit for the time being, but you still pushed his hand off of you. 

"The truth is, I… made the platform,” you admit sheepishly. You’re quick to defend yourself as you see Vox’s expression fill with rage. “But I’m not the one who released it and I don’t work for Eternal. I swear!”

“You realize how fucking fake that sounds, right?” Vox growled as he felt his claws itch with the desire to rip you apart.

“Yup,” you swallow. “I understand the shit sandwich I landed myself in very much, Mr. Big Scary Evil Overlord Sir.”

“But,” you say as you pull back your desk chair and pull up your browser. “I have proof. If you don’t believe me after you look at it, you can kick my ass to your heart’s content. But I think you’ll quickly realize I do not know what the fuck I’m doing and I couldn’t have made this shit the way you’re thinking I did, even if I tried.”

Vox squinted at you with distrust as he looked between you and the chair. He grabbed the back of the offending furniture far tighter than was necessary and yanked it out of your hand as he sat down with a grumble.

He started scrolling through the history of your browser and clicked through the tabs you’d left open for him. It looked like you had signed up for some sort of coding workshop and had no idea what you had signed up for. What was poorly disguised as a hands-on tutorial for beginner video game coders to learn how to make mock platforms for marketing was a trap to lure in people to do Eternal’s dirty work. It was the sort of thing that would never pop up on Vox’s radar. It was obviously a scam to the trained eye and a weak attempt at throwing suckers like you under the bus.

“You’ve got to be fucking joking,” he said as he looked up at you incredulously.

Your face flushed and you looked away from him with an embarrassed frown as you crossed your arms. “Oh fuck off,” you grumble. “I’m broke as hell and it was a free course in an area I need to learn to make my games. It sounded too good to be true.”

“Because it was, dumbass,” Vox snorted as he shook his head and kept digging. He followed the data trail of the domain the workshop was hosted on and pulled up a few unrelated tabs that you hadn’t already pulled up from him so he could figure out how you’d discovered the suspicious content in the first place.

“Hey!” you gasp as you try to stop him.

“If you don’t want to end up an electrified shish kabob on the floor, you’ll let me work,” Vox said, not taking his eyes off the screen for a second as he installed some of his searching software to run in the background of your system.

You huff, watching him continue to dig through your computer before you turn on your heel and walk out. “Just don’t move or delete anything.”

Vox rolled his eyes as he continued his search. He quickly understood where your worries stemmed from. He hadn’t paid too much attention to your mention of it earlier, but it was obvious you were some sort of video game developer. There were folders filled with concept designs, dialogue chains, and amateur attempts at programming. It seemed while you thrived in the creator side of things, your tech knowledge was severely lacking. A quick invasive peek at your bank account showed that your funds were as well. You had big visions for someone with only yourself as a resource.

He paused as he opened a folder in your files that was filled with what appeared to be pictures of you and what he assumed were your friends. His eyes widened as he recognized several faces smiling innocently compared to the lewd expressions he’d seen them make in Valentino’s films. What caught his attention even more was the multiple pictures of you with Angel Dust and his little cyclops friend who had a knack for explosives.

Before he could dig any further into your personal life, several windows popped up to let him know the diagnostics had finished running the background.

Vox’s leg started to bounce with anxious energy as the reports from the programs he’d run earlier started to flood in. He immediately followed the trail of information and found several other websites connecting to Eternal that eventually led him to a secluded forum with all sorts of shady shit. He opened several threads that related to himself and the other Vees and inhaled sharply as he started to read through everything.

"Anti-VoxTech underground network…?" Vox whispered aloud. An anxious thrum of energy ran through him as he tried not to freak out. What if this person used the platform to spread propaganda against him or to leak information from his networks? What if this person was trying to destroy him from the inside out? His paranoia began to intensify and he felt small sparks licking at his skin when suddenly, a coffee mug was thrust in front of his face.

He looks up at you as you hold out one of two mugs to him. He takes it slowly from your hand as you look at him unimpressed, yet expectantly. “Thanks…?” He says slowly as he is once again thrown off by how much you didn’t match his expectations. He looks down at the liquid in his hand before looking back up at you distrustfully. For all he knew, your weirdly casual demeanor could have all been a trick. Poisoning him in the afterlife wouldn’t kill him, it’d just be a major inconvenience. Even so, he hesitated.

“Oh for fucks sake,” you roll your eyes as you realize why he was hesitating. You stick your pinky in his cup and pop it in your mouth to show him it was safe. “It’s just hot chocolate,” you huff before you take a sip from your own mug. “I was going to make one before you just zapped your ass in here and it felt rude to only make one for myself.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you looked the bewildered overlord over. “Shit, but your face… Can you even…? Wait no, that’s also rude. Fuck.”

Vox burst out laughing as you verbally tripped over yourself. Yeah no. There was no evil ploy here. You were just a weirdly endearing dumbass.

“I can drink,” Vox grinned as he finally lifted the cup to his lips. His eyes widened as he took in the unexpected taste. While he could eat and drink, he unfortunately had lost his sense of smell with his afterlife form. He wasn’t expecting the slightly sour tinge of raspberry syrup that mixed with the more standard flavor of the drink.

You watch him curiously and his eyes lock onto yours in an instant. Your face flushes and you turn away as you try to not-so-smoothly play over the fact that you had been trying to see how his mouth worked. “S-So, did you find anything?”

Vox sighed and set his mug down as he turned his attention back to your computer. “Yes, actually. Surprisingly enough, I’ve found more on your very shitty and outdated computer than my team has in the past six months.”

He ignores your offended protests about the quality of your setup as he looks through one of the forums. He ignores the way you lean into his personal space as you look over his shoulder and read the comments yourself.

“I just don’t get why there’s this large of an interest in working around my products,” Vox grumbled as the two of you read through the conversations.

You raise an eyebrow and peer down at him. "You and the Vee's don't exactly have the best rep with lower-class sinners. It may be hard for a big powerful dude like you to comprehend, but believe it or not, some people like their privacy."

Vox frowned as he begrudgingly sipped on his drink. He would never admit out loud how much it was soothing his nerves. “We’re in hell,” he reasoned. “Surely dating mining which pornos the average sinner watches to increase ratings and production quality isn’t the top concern these idiots have.”

You roll your eyes and sigh as you sit on the edge of your desk. Your hips carelessly pushed some things back, but you paid it no mind. “It goes deeper than that and you know it. Hell, I know it and I think this entire experience has proven how much of this shit flies over my head.”

Vox’s eyes drift to the vial you bumped with your hip and he pauses as he considers just how harmless you really were. While it was clear you weren’t the most program-savvy, Vox hadn’t forgotten the abrupt welcome he’d gotten when he tried to sneak in. Whatever that mist he’d been enveloped in was bottled and stashed all over the place. He still had more digging to do.

Sensing the shift in Vox’s attitude, your eyes follow his gaze and you cringe as you tuck the vial out of sight.

“So you’re not a complete idiot then,” Vox said as he placed his empty mug on the table and stood over you.

“That’s different,” you mutter as you shrink in on yourself and avoid looking him in the eye.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Vox hummed as his eyes sharply searched your features like a shark drawn to blood in the water.

His clawed fingers wrap around your jaw and he slowly makes you turn towards him. His grip was firm and the sharp edges threatened to break skin, but he was also somewhat gentle, after all, you had gotten him this far. A looming threat if you suddenly decided to stop cooperating.

“You deleted your visits to those forums in your browser history before you let me access your computer,” Vox said slowly as he watched your every expression carefully. You were avoiding his eyes, which meant you knew what he was capable of. “Why?”

“It doesn’t matter,” you say slowly as you try to keep your breathing even. You couldn’t afford to panic. “I probably just accidentally cleared it when I was wiping my cache or something. Aren’t you supposed to do that every now and then, or something?”

Vox quirked an eyebrow, looking completely unimpressed. “You’re not a good liar.”

“Oh fuck off,” you frown as you look up at him without thinking. 

Vox grins and his eyes immediately spiral as he tries to pull you under his spell. You gasp and for a moment he thinks he has you… only for the spirals not to reflect back at him from your own eyes.

“What…?” Vox blinks as his grip on you loosens.

You smack his hand away and dive out from under him as you try to get away. Vox growls, whipping around and grabbing your arm before you can slip out of the office. You let out a startled yelp as he slams you against the wall and twists your arm behind your back.

“What the hell is going on? Who are you, really?” he interrogates as he twists your arm harder.

It didn’t make any sense. You were a walking contradiction. He genuinely didn’t sense any malice directed at him from you. Your search history barely skimmed anything relating to him. If anything, you had done more research on Velvette and Valentino, which he had to admit, in any other scenario may have bruised his ego a hair. You accidentally helped a rival company launch an attack against him and let him search your system without any hesitation, yet the second he locked in on those vials, you changed your tune completely.

Not only that, but you were somehow able to resist his hypnosis. He’d seen the faintest flash of connection in your eyes that told him you weren’t immune. Yet you had somehow managed to slip out of the hold he’d tried to cast over you within seconds.

“Let me go, asshole!” You shouted as you tried to slip out of his grasp. You hiss in pain as his sharp claws dig into your arm and draw blood.

“I don’t think so,” Vox growled as he tightened his grip and drew more blood. “What the hell is in those vials? And why were you on those forums in the first place? Tell me or I’ll rip your arm off.”

You bark out a laugh despite the fear, “With those fucking twigs? I’d like to see you tr-AH fuck! Alright alright!” You relent as he slams your head against the wall with his other hand.

Vox loosens his grip ever so slightly, but watches you like a hawk.

“Everything I’ve told you so far is true,” you start with a sigh. “I don’t know jack shit about most of your area in things, but I only found the workshop because I was on the forums.”

“And why would you be there?” Vox frowned. “You don’t have anything my company would care about on your systems. You’re a shit liar, but get any ideas of telling me it was for privacy out of your head.”

Your eyes dart and he can tell you’re trying to think of a way to weasel out of telling him the truth. Whatever it was, you really didn’t want him to know. Which meant he needed to know.

“Tell me,” Vox growled as he pressed you harder into the wall.

“V-Valentino,” you whimpered as the pain started to wear down your willpower. You weren’t exactly accustumed to this sort of experience despite your time in hell. You kept your head down as much as you could. You only dared to kick up dust for one reason and you’d done your best not to get caught for it up until now, but you had been careless.

“What?” Vox blinked as his grip relented.

“I,” you open your mouth, only to cringe. You really didn’t want to tell him, but if you double died without at least trying to pull something, it would only leave the very people you were trying to protect in deeper shit. Vox would figure it out after killing you anyways. Spilling the beans and trying to figure something out in the process was your only hope.

“The mist wasn’t mean to hurt you,” you say slowly. “I’ll talk, so fucking let go first.”

Vox watches you distrustfully, but releases your arm and steps back. He stands between you and the door, so he’s willing to play along if it means he’ll finally have the full picture.

“I don’t… pay much attention to hell’s politics,” you sigh. “I don’t care about power, I don’t care about overlords, but I do care about my friends.”

For the first time since Vox had gotten here, he saw something familiar flash in your eyes. The dark twisted bloodlust he’d seen in most sinners. “I don’t use my powers much,” you say as you walk over to your desk. “I’m not really trained to fight like most people down here. I’m cooped up in here most of the time, so it’s not like I’ve ever really had a reason to start shit.”

You pick up a vial and hold up your other hand as a small portal opens above your palm. “This is about all I can do,” you say. “I had a buddy who liked to research sinners abilities and I didn’t really care if he looked into mine.” 

You had to bite down the fond smile at the memory of Baxter’s pestering. “He discovered that at low enough levels of activation, magic could be collected like a liquid or a mist with all his fancy tech shit. Again, you know how much of that flies over my head.”

Vox looked between your hands and nodded silently, watching you carefully as he waited for you to put together the pieces for him.

“Using the residue of my abilities, he tried to replicate that love potion shit you guys sell. He wanted to see if he could recreate it and then make a repellent.”

Vox’s eyes widened as he looked at the vial and it finally clicked. “It’s a repellent against Valentino’s magic.”

You wave away the miniature portal above your hand and nod with a frown. You hated every part of this, but at least he hadn’t killed you yet. “Like I said earlier, there's a high demand for slipping out under the Vee's control."

“Is that how you resisted my hypnosis as well?” Vox asked carefully.

“No,” you shake your head. “That’s something else entirely. No schemes or any fancy shit like that involved there.”

“Then why did the mist hurt me?” Vox frowned.

“Well, for starters,” you smirk at the memory. It had freaked you out pretty bad in the moment, but after the shit Vox just put you through, you kinda loved that he’d gotten his ass handed to him. “The guy I told you about was here and was trying to make a new batch. You literally teleported in the middle of us making the shit and knocked over the batch we’d been producing so it was heavily concentrated.”

“Secondly, you’re around Valentino all the time. When is that guy not blowing his slut smoke all around you?” You cross your arms.

“That…” Vox thought back to how often Valentino smoked his pipe around him. How used to seeing the pink smoke around him he’d gotten. He didn’t have a sense of smell so he was entirely immune to the effects. So much so, he had no reason to notice how it was completely seeped into his clothing and probably coating his entire body in an unnoticeable residue.

"Yup," you sigh. "If I had to take a guess, then that’s why.”

"And the reason you’d help your friend make this…” Vox trailed off as he remembered the pictures he’d found on your computer. You were friends with a lot of Valentino’s sex workers, including Angel Dust. Vox was a business partner, a friend, and sometimes a lover of Valentino. Valentino was notorious for the abuse of his sex workers. An abuser of some of your closest friends.

You frown, turning away from Vox, your body language acknowledging him as a proper enemy for the first time since he's broke in. "You get it now.”

He knew about Valentino and his history of abuse towards sex workers. He had seen his behavior first hand and knew the moth’s behavior was vile and repulsive. But the worst of it was never directed at Vox himself. Some of it, yeah, but… Vox hadn't really cared about anyone else. He had better shit to think about.

"I see…,” Vox hummed as he picked up another vial off the floor and twirled it between his claws. You really could benefit from some basic cleaning around the office. “So you’re planning on beating him at his own game." Vox said, his eyes narrowing as he looked at you with a mix of suspicion and admiration. "Clever... very clever.."

You cross your arms, watching him sharply as you wait to see what he'll do about it.

"You got the information you wanted." You say flatly. He knew who was attacking him with your software now. The Eternity shit he’d found on your computer was a solid lead. However, he now knew of your efforts against Valentino. You weren’t a fighter, by any means, but you were prepared to protect yourself if you had to.

Vox's eyes narrowed as he looked at you in a new light. Your lack of personal interest in politics and the standard hell powergrabs had him intrigued. He wondered just what you’d be capable of if you did play the same game that everyone else did. It was clear you were resourceful and crafty, yet you directed those efforts towards something so… mundane.

"You’ve proved useful enough so far, and I thank you for that. Depending on your next answer, I may even let you keep your insides where they belong. So, let me ask you this..." Vox said, continuing to look at you with his eyes narrowing. "If those experiments are unrelated to my influence entirely, then how are you able to resist my hypnosis?"

Whether he meant to or not, Vox just handed you the key to your survival on a silver platter. Your eyes widen and you try to hide the excitement at the opportunity as you level your best poker face. “It’s pretty simple actually,” you say as you inspect your nails nonchalanetly. A bit too theatric, perhaps, but you were trying to play it cool. It didn’t matter that you weren’t actually succeeding. 

“Hypothetically, I may or may not have discovered how to counter your hypnosis,” you hum as Vox’s eye twitched. “Hypothetically, I could sell that information or simply just post it to the Eternal forums. I’m sure everyone would love to know how not to get sucked into your marketing schemes.”

"You want to make a deal," Vox realized, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly and dead pixels flickered to life under his lip. This just got so much more interesting for him.

[willofthequill]

For the fic writing game: 2,3,4,6,8,13,14,18,20,21,22,28,33,34,35

When the bestie tries to kill you… LMAO Just kidding!! I love doing these ask things!! Alright, here the fuck we go, y'all!! Disclaimer: Alright, listen.. I tried posting this multiple times with the right numbers and Tumblr said Fuck nah... so you get it in the numbers it decided to assign them but they the right question and in order lol

How do you come up with your plot ideas? They just kinda… come in like the Koolaid man lol

Are there any specific themes you enjoy exploring in your fics? Soulmates! Spouses/partners that are madly in love with each other, self discovery, strong women with strong men

How do you channel characters' voices and personalities? A lot of times I put on specific episodes of the show where the character has a decent amount of screen time so i can hear their voice and try out what i am writing for them in my head and see if it fits. The characters totally run this show, I'm just the human scribe of their tales and whims lol

Do you prefer writing shorter, standalone fics or longer, multi-chapter stories? I love writing smutty one shots the most lol I prefer writing shorter fics, like 5 chapters or less, and ones hots. I have limited time, limited focus, and way too many ideas.

Do you have any rituals or habits that help you get into the zone? Turn on an anime I know well but still enjoy for background noise. Turn off all lights and light a candle. Get stoned as fuck.

What's the most challenging aspect of writing fanfiction for you? Fight scenes!! I just feel like I can NOT get the hang of those.

How do you go about researching details or canon information? I go down rabbit holes on google and come out the other side a few hours later not remember what I was even researching to begin with lmao or i waste hours going down rabbit holes about the strangest fucking things.

Are there any fics or authors that have been particularly influential or inspiring to you? oh yes!! I'll give you my absolute Top 4! @onwinedarkseas - incredible author and even more spectacular human! One of the most genuine, talented, supportive, intelligent and inspiring people I know!! Reading her fics, helping her talk out her ideas… her suggestions, our sound boarding sessions for both of our fics… she is a huge part of why I have grown as an author. And she is a huge part of why the Crone-verse is still going lol Her works are intriguing, unique and sexy as hell. @peachdues - not only is she a badass lawyer with the best nails, she is such a good author! I love the way she waves her tales. Her smut scenes have me clenching my thighs, frothing at the mouth and gnawing on the bars of my enclosure while i read them!! She is so good with angst! She inspires me to get out of my comfort zone and hurt my characters out of love for them. And come on... Sanemi getting to hit the mermussy? How can you NOT be inspired by that?! @oryu404 - No one writes Stingue Smut like Oreo. NO ONE. lol I love the way they weave humor into their stories and bend the characters how they need to fit their stories/themes while still someone managing to keep them in character!! @mdelpin - The Red Dragon - If you have read this fic, no… this MASTERPIECE, then I do not need to say more!! Such a talented author! This fic has literally everything you could ever want in it and it still gives me tingles when I think about it. One of the fics that first really inspired me to go all in on my writing and my AUs!

How do you approach action sequences or intense moments? I try really hard to imagine it first person to try and capture how I see the characters moving, what I see happening what they are feeling and thinking in that moment.

Have you ever used fanfiction as a way to explore your own emotions or personal experiences? Oh, ABSOLUTELY. Cheaper than therapy and I can do it at home in my panties while getting stoned and eating ice cream! Also, smut writing is an incredible way to explore sexuality, sensuality, gender and kinks!!

What role does humor play in your writing? Do you enjoy adding comedic elements to your fics? It's a HUGE part of my dialogue. I LOVE Kevin Smith movies for their dialogue. Dialogue can capture me or turn me off to something real quick. I love witty retorts and sarcasm.

What's the most ambitious or challenging fic you've ever written? The Crone of Purgatory. Hands down. I have been building this world for a year. It is going to be my longest fic both in terms of chapters and word count. It has had many challenges and stall points, but I am determined I will finish it!

How do you incorporate world-building elements into your fics? Every way I possibly can lol from language, to landscape, to customs, clothing… you name it!! I personally love to use the Foretelling App for world building, outlining and so much more. For free you can do everything on the app, if you want to use your website too its like $5. but seriously, that app has been a life saver and game changer for keeping track of my worldbuilding craziness.

Are there any fic writing tips or tricks you've learned along the way that you'd like to share?

WRITE FAN FICTION FOR YOURSELF. It is supposed to be fun, an escape - not a prison!

Do not put too much pressure on yourself! Fic writing is not a job, it's a hobby! No timelines, no publishers - just you and your favorite characters dressing up and playing pretend in words.

TAKE NOTES AND REVIEW YOUR NOTES. Loop holes and continuity issues can break a story.

What do you enjoy most about being a fic writer? Getting to let lose in my fics! Getting lost in the worlds I create!! I pretty much write selfship even if its x reader or x oc - it's me i'm imagining and writing lol I get to make myself into whatever, whoever, the hell I want. I get to leave the shackles the corporate world has put on all of us behind and go to places where there is magic, dragons, sexy 2D men with big dicks who are madly in love with me, and i can eat all the things I want and not have my ass expand lol So in short - I like getting to play with my imaginary friends :)

Thanks for the ask, @onwinedarkseas ! This was a lot of fun! :) Fic Ask Game

[granvarones]

Pride started with a protest. Pride Month is a declaration of the fight for freedom for all LGBTQ+ people. It is a way to honor our history, resilience, and collective resistance. For those of us who have the privilege, one act of resistance can be coming out publicly as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. And Amber Ruffin did just that during the last day of Pride Month.

On June 30, 2024, multi-talented comedian, writer, and television host Amber Ruffin posted a picture of herself rockin’ a purple shirt that read “QUEER.” The caption of the photo read:

“In what will come as a shock to exactly zero people, I’m using the last day of PRIDE to come out! Be proud of who you are, babies! I know I am! And I can’t wait to be discriminated against for a new reason!!”

Amber gained widespread recognition as a writer for “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” where she became the first Black woman to write for a late-night network talk show. Her segments, such as “Amber Says What?” and “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell,” showcased her sharp comedic skills and her ability to tackle serious issues with a light-hearted approach.

In 2020, Amber continued to break new ground when her critically acclaimed and Emmy-nominated “The Amber Ruffin Show” was launched on the streaming channel Peacock. The show combined sketch comedy, monologues, and musical numbers, often addressing racism, sexism, and homophobia.

Amber has also recently garnered success in the world of theater as co-writer for the “Some Like It Hot” revival, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award, and updating the book for the Deborah Broadway Cox-starring hit, “The Wiz.”

Amber, thank you for sharing your journey with us!